A Stranger Among Them
by Rytex
Summary: A pony with no memory wakes up in an unknown land. Someone wants to use him to conquer this land, but there's another who wishes him to defend it. All the while, he is trying to find out exactly who he is. LunaxOC. T for swearing and for violence. Enjoy.
1. A Rather Unorthodox Welcome to Equestria

_**A Stranger Among Them**_

_Hello! This is my little Author's Note, and since I decided to submit this story to Equestria Daily as well as , I decided to change from the typical bold to italics (since it seems like a lot of people do it this way on EqD). It really throws me off. I'm serious. My OCD cannot handle a change this sudden and… obvious._

_Now for the disclaimer. If I get any complaints about it, I will respond with a "Don't like? Don't read!" And if they're too stupid to read the disclaimer, well, let's just say one of Picard's Facepalms does not show just how apt of stupidity this person has._

_That said, while it will be a LunaxOC (incorporating as much **CANTERLOCK** as I feel is necessary, given that it is, well, Luna), and presently this is somewhat lighthearted, I have plans to make this not dark, per se, but serious after a while. Also, as far as I know, I only have plans to write a one-parter. Not a One-SHOT, a one-installment, Three-act story._

_Well, now for LEGAL disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. That honor belongs to Hasbro and Studio B. I am just a humongous Brony hoping to contribute the fandom._

_That said, on with the story._

* * *

"Where am I? How did I get here? What's going on?"

The questions plagued my mind as I lay there, content to sleep. There's nothing at all bad about laying on a soft mattress of a surface, with gentle wind caressing you while you attempt to sleep. It was just too comfortable, and I had absolutely no desire at all to vacate the position I was currently in. However, the decision of whether or not to move was not decided by me. Instead, something rather sharp poked me in my side as I lay there, content to just sleep away the day. I yelped and shot in the air, landing on not two, but four feet. Strange…

"Oh goody! He isn't dead!" came a high-pitched, hyper voice as someone- or something- started bouncing around me while I rubbed my side with my hoof and started to take- wait, my HOOF!

Sure enough, as I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms, I beheld not hands, but hooves. Black hooves. I quickly started looking myself over. I was a pony! A black pony, with wings, a long, bright red mane, and some sort of marking that looks like a flame on my side. Was I high?

"Pinkie Pie, that's enough. He looks completely confused," said a much less hyper voice, belonging to a purple pony, with a horn. A unicorn, then. She had a marking like mine, but it involved stars rather than a flame. Her violet eyes stared at me in slight confusion as I was looking over myself.

I paid little attention to everything else as my condition started to reveal itself to me. In my excitement and looking around, I had noticed, but paid little attention to my wings, which were currently raised, waiting to fly me somewhere best known to them. However, when you don't know how to use wings, the position they're in becomes uncomfortable, and useless.

Using new-found nerves, I slowly lowered them into the resting position, or what I assumed was the resting position.

It was then that I started paying attention to my surroundings. The pink pony, with rather wild magenta hair, was bouncing around, happy as can be, apparently oblivious to her surroundings. The violet unicorn was inspecting me, but I was distracted by the other five.

One was a pure orange shade, with golden hair, and a Stetson planted firmly atop her head. She too was inspecting me, but not nearly as in-depth as the other. Next to her was a Pegasus, like me I suppose, only it had a blue body, with a mane comprised of an entire rainbow. She looked interested, but at the same time, she was bored with just sitting around. I could tell, she didn't really enjoy sitting in one place for very long. Neither do I, for that matter, so I shuffled a bit.

Next to the currently-levitating Pegasus was a unicorn like the violet pony. However, this one had a white body, with very delicately styled purple hair, and she looked kind of… well… regal. She carried herself a lot more highly than the others, and it was everything-but-visible. Next to her was another Pegasus. This one had a light yellow body, with a pink mane that formed the silhouetted shape of a heart where it separated for her face. Unlike her obviously-bored companion, she looked, if anything, apprehensive. She positively squealed when we made eye contact and looked away bashfully.

However, the last pony put them all to shame. I thought that white one was regal, but this one undoubtedly was a lot more so. Taller than the rest, with a white body, and a mane somewhat like the first Pegasus', different shades of color every few strands of hair, and it covered one of her eyes. However, she was both a Pegasus and a unicorn. What should I call her?

Again, I felt the need to shuffle, so I did.

"Uh, Twahlahght? Ah think he would appreciate it if you stopped," the orange one said. Her accent sounded like it came from the country. Or at least, that's what I assume. I'm not trying to be stereotypical, but that's what it sounds like.

The violet pony backed away, but she clearly wanted to continue researching me.

"Sorry," she said, rather apologetically. Upon meeting my eyes, she gave a bit of an embarrassed grin and backed up.

All of a sudden, my head bore witness to a pounding headache, and I couldn't help but grimace, groan, and grasp my head in pain.

"Ow," I let out after it stopped, a few seconds later. But I put aside my pain to sate my curiosity moments later. "Where- where am I?"

The one that was both a unicorn and a Pegasus arched her visible eyebrow- or possibly both of them?- and looked at me with an absolutely confused expression.

"I don't understand. Where did he come from, Twilight Sparkle?" it asked, the voice giving its gender away as female.

"We don't know, Princess. All I know was that there was a really loud crash, and I ran out here to find him in the middle of where the noise came from," the violet pony explained in an apologetic voice.

"Maybe he came from outer space!" exclaimed the pink one, who was still bouncing around, without a care in the world.

"Well, allow me to ask. Who are you, mysterious one?" the Princess asked.

It was at that moment that it hit me. I don't even know my own name! And what's worse, I don't remember anything about me up until when I woke up moments ago. What did I do, drink myself to oblivion the night before and somehow wind up causing a scene out here?

But before I could concentrate on anything more serious than that idea, a fresh wave of headaches rocked me. Unprepared, I grabbed at my head again, clenching my eyes shut, and grimacing painfully. It REALLY hurt, in case you couldn't already tell.

"I… I don't know…" I gasped, still clutching at my head with my hooves, bent low to avoid falling over. This was really starting to become a problem.

"Hmm… a mysterious colt appears out of nowhere, he has no name, and I'm assuming he probably has no memory too," said the blue Pegasus, looking pleased with herself. She was right, but how did she know I had no memory? All I said was that I couldn't remember my own name.

"How did you know I didn't remember anything?" I asked.

Suddenly, all eyes turned to her. She looked at them for a moment, slightly surprised, but she soon looked annoyed.

"What? I watch a lot of action movies! This happens all the time. Watch, I bet he knows karate," she said, presenting the facts as if everyone- no, everypony- should know this. She then proceeded to walk right up to me and give me a nice punch to the face, clearly expecting me to respond with some form of retaliation or block.

However, I am NOT familiar with karate. And I did not enjoy receiving a nice shiner on my cheek and jaw. Good thing my mane is black, else it would show.

"Rainbow Dash! What was that for!" thundered the Princess.

Rainbow Dash didn't look apologetic at all. If anything, she seemed even more excited.

"Wait, so he doesn't know karate? Maybe I can teach him! That would be so awesome!"

The Princess said nothing, but shook her head and looked disapprovingly at Rainbow Dash, who rolled her eyes.

"Sorry about that," she said, not sounding sorry in the slightest.

"No worries," I said, feeling rather irritated. I again felt that little itch to move around. I don't know why, but I just can't sit in one place. Ever.

"I have an idea!" the pink one suddenly exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. "Why don't we give him a temporary name? That way, we can call him something until he finds his real name!"

I didn't really care. I was more concerned with stopping the headaches and finding my real name than helping come up with a fake one. But I'll go for it. Who knows? Maybe it'll be my real name? Hah, fat chance.

The Princess tilted her head, considering the idea.

"Do you want a name?" she asked me.

Well, since I am such a snarky son of a gun, I grinned at her.

"I already have a name, Princess. I just can't remember what it is."

The Princess narrowed her eyes, looking a mite angry, but she quickly broke into a smile.

"Well, I can see you and I are going to get along just fine," she said, somewhat sarcastically, "but it's good that you feel alright enough to crack jokes. However, do you want a name?" she asked again.

I considered the matter. I don't know who I am, at all. No memories, no name, and only a vague inkling as to my own personality, but I do have these feelings inside me that tell me that I do want a name to go by. That said, I nodded.

"Okie dokie lokie! Pinkie Pie will have a name for you in no time!" the pink one, who had resumed bouncing around, exclaimed.

"Wonderful," came a rather sarcastic and sardonic response from the violet one, Twilight Sparkle.

"Umm… Princess Celestia?" came a soft-spoken voice from behind me. When I turned, it appeared to come from the yellow one, with the pink mane.

"Yes, Fluttershy?" asked the Princess.

"Can't you, umm, fix his memories or something? Does your magic let you do that?"

Princess Celestia appeared to consider the matter.

"I don't think so. I have healed memories before, but those were memories others shared with her. He, however, appears to know absolutely nopony here, so there would be no one to help him."

I felt disappointed. Well, duh I felt disappointed. This magic-using pegasusicorn (Well, it sounded better in my head) had a chance to heal memories, but well, looks like I get to do it the hard way.

"Umm, excuse me," I said. They all looked at me. "I know this may seem rather odd, but where exactly am I?"

It was Pinkie Pie who answered.

"Just outside Ponyville, of course!"

That really didn't answer my question.

"But where exactly is this Ponyville?" I asked, making my total lack of knowledge of this location even more obvious to Pinkie Pie.

"Perhaps I should explain to him," said the Princess. "We don't know where it is you come from, but you have come to the land of Equestria. I am Princess Celestia, ruler of the Day, and co-monarch of the entire land. These are my subjects, and my students. Twilight Sparkle," she gestured to the violet one, "Pinkie Pie," the pink one, "Rarity," the white unicorn, "Applejack," the orange one, "Fluttershy," the quiet yellow one, "and Rainbow Dash," the blue one.

I nodded my head at each of them as she pointed.

"Pleasure to meet you all," I said, trying to sound polite. I mean, I AM in front of royalty.

"The pleasure is ours," said Twilight Sparkle. "Princess, where will he stay? I mean, we can't just leave him here."

"Hey, there's room in mah barn," said Applejack. "Jist for a couple a days, y'understand," she hastily explained.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!" squealed the pink one, waving her hooves and bouncing high over everypony else.

"Yes, uhh, Pinkie Pie?" I asked.

"I'm sure the Cakes wouldn't mind if you stayed over at my place-"

However, she was quickly interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

"But I'm sure he would mind when you throw him a party in the middle of the night."

Pinkie Pie stopped for a moment, but continued bouncing around, undeterred.

"I could conjure a bed, I suppose," said Twilight Sparkle. "But you'll have to forgive Spike. He snores in his sleep."

Well, that didn't sound so bad. "Better than sleeping out here. Who knows what could happen?" I said.

"Well, my sister, for one. And she would never let any harm come to anypony," said the Princess.

And again, I felt the need to move. It wasn't just from an itch this time. Something truly felt wrong. I didn't quite understand the feeling, but I shifted again.

"So, where is your house, Twilight Sparkle?"

"Oh please, just call me Twilight. And it's the Ponyville Library."

I nodded, a little confused, and slightly amused. Who lives in a library? I mean, it just seems like someone takes their love of books just a little too far. But before anyone else could say anything, a thundering voice interrupted us all.

"No! I will not allow you, denizens of Ponyville, to interfere! He was brought here to serve MY purpose, and my purpose he will serve! You will not interfere!"

Auras appeared around Twilight Sparkle's and Princess Celestia's horns as they started looking around for the source of the voice.

"Reveal yourself!" shouted the princess.

The voice was not long in responding.

"As you wish, Princess Celestia."

From the air, little wisps of a dark aura began to appear and draw toward a spot in the air. As more and more gathered, the dark cloud began to take a shape. Before long, it also resembled a horse, like the Princess. It had wings and a horn, and when the cloud vanished, the figure revealed itself. It was as tall as Princess Celestia, but something about it made it quite plain that it was much more powerful. Its wings were long and bat-like. Its body was pure black, with a somewhat-spiky mane of bright silver. Its eyes were red and they glared at the Princess.

The figure laughed humorlessly. The laugh was mocking and untold malice lie within it.

"Well, now. I must say, I expected more. A Pegasus? Well, I expected a unicorn, given your previous disposition. Although I must say, I like the coat. Black suits you. It makes it even more obvious that you're an outsider." His voice wasn't deep like I expected, but it still was a voice I would associate with "villain." Pompous, loud, mocking, and undoubtedly rather full of himself.

"Who are you, and why are you here!" thundered the Princess.

The black figure smiled. "Of course, you would not know who I was. My dear sister would have seen to that. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Tenebrae, embodiment of all that is darkness. And I have brought this human here to serve me," he said, gesturing at me.

All eyes were on me. Well, all eyes except Pinkie Pie's. For whatever reason, she looked entirely uninterested with the fact that this embodiment of darkness was here threatening all of us. But still, his comment, not to mention the fact that I had already proven my amnesia sort of annoyed me. Did they expect me to know something they didn't?

"Uhh, what?" I asked, feeling somewhat foalish.

Now Tenebrae looked just exasperated.

"Of course. I should have foreseen this. Your memory. It's gone, isn't it?" he asked.

I said nothing. He didn't seem like someone I wanted to serve for whatever purpose he had in mind. However, I still didn't want to look_ that_ weak.

"So what if it is?" I asked derisively. At those words, Tenebrae facehoofed.

"I brought you from your home planet, from somewhere you absolutely despised, into this realm. Though, to be honest, based on your personality, I was expecting you to be a unicorn. You would have been much more useful that way. Pegasi can only use weather magic, and that's not exactly strong. That said, I suppose I can always force you into-"

He was interrupted by a bolt of lightning from a nearby cloud lancing down toward him. He dodged, then snarled up at the one who had shot it: Rainbow Dash.

"Insolent little foal! Do you know who I am!" he asked, though his angry voice was punctuated with some malevolent amusement. He probably saw that as a joke, considering his boast about him being the embodiment of darkness.

Dash looked pretty angry at him.

"Yeah, I know who you are. You're a big ham who needs to shut up. Pegasus magic isn't weak. You diss our magic, you be dissin' me. And I don't take kindly to being dissed."

Tenebrae looked, if anything, even more amused by this statement.

"Oh? And what can you hope to-"

But again, he was interrupted. This time, Celestia decided to take a shot at him while he was distracted. Her horn glowed and a beam of white magic shot at Tenebrae, who, rather than dodge it, fired his own beam of black magic right back at the Princess.

The beams met in midair, and almost immediately, the black beam started pushing the white beam back. Slowly, inch by inch, Celestia's beam of energy was shortened, and she looked like she was straining to put up a fight. However, it also looked like Tenebrae was having to fight. His face was scrunched in a scowl as he focused more and more into his beam.

"I... will not… allow you… to touch… my subjects!" Celestia half-grunted, half-shouted at Tenebrae, doing her absolute best to fight him off.

Not ones to let the princess fight on her own, Twilight Sparkle shot a beam of her own at Tenebrae while Rainbow Dash caused another bolt of lightning to shoot at Tenebrae. And in true useless fashion, the others watched, myself included. What else could I do? Of the others, Applejack looked like she was trying to find something to do, Pinkie Pie was currently fumbling with a giant cannon that had appeared out of nowhere, Fluttershy was hiding behind a near-by bush, and Rarity was shooting spells at Tenebrae as well, but she looked like she was trying not to mess up her mane. The spells missed due to her... preoccupation.

It was an admirable effort, but they all were outclassed. After all, they were fighting a demi-god.

After it seemed Tenebrae was finished tolerating this recent turn of events, he finally decided to drop the theatrics. With a scoff and a smirk, he gathered in energy, and with a resounding boom, it exploded outward, blowing everyone back. I personally think I hit the only rock in this patch of grass from here to that collection of buildings down in the valley. Just my luck. Oh, and I hit my head on it too. Fantastic.

When my vision cleared up from the dizziness of my near-concussion, I looked up to find the large ham himself standing over me, a sneer etched upon his face.

"You thought your friends could save you? How cute," he said, making it quite plain that he was at-best amused by the efforts to stop him with whatever he was doing.

Oh damn. He broke out the F word. He's fucked.

With a quick swing, I smashed my right hoof into his jaw. He didn't seem to have expected this, because he stumbled backward. I seized the opportunity and stood, then advanced on him.

"Mistake number one. You thought you could just come here and demand that I serve you. No, I don't think I will," I said forcefully, ramming my hoof into his jaw again. He was better prepared, but he was still off-balance. That was enough to send him back a few more feet.

"Mistake number 2. You start implying that I'm not what you thought. Yeah? I prefer to surpass expectations, and you just gave me some fodder to do so." My next punch he caught, but that didn't stop me from bringing my back hooves up and catching his chin. I coulda sworn I saw Rainbow Dash hoof-pumping at the fact that I knew some ability to fight.

"Last, and certainly not least, you broke out the F-word, even though we only just met. Yeah, no. Nobody, and I mean NObody, fucks with my friends and gets away with it."

I kicked him head-on, and that seemed to have done it. Tenebrae stumbled back, and it looks like he tripped over the rock I just collided with, because he fell backwards.

He stared up at me with an expression of disbelief and obvious fury. He wanted to respond, I could tell, but with a scoff, he stood up, shook himself off, and blew some dust off of his shoulders. I had barely touched him. Oh, this is not good.

However, he surprised me.

"Humph. Not bad at all. Maybe you'll be as entertaining as I thought you would. We'll meet again, human. I brought you into this world, and since you are here, it allows me to be here. But don't get any delusions about leaving. There's no one here who knows how to send you back."

He vanished in a cloud of smoke. When he was gone, I fell back. While I can't remember any instances before that one where I suddenly broke out and started beating the living hell out of anyone, I saw this brief flash of something. A mental image of three people dressed in black holding someone else in a choke-hold. Call me crazy, seeing as how I can't remember anything more, but I certainly hope this one image triggers my memories.

As expected, the first one up to me was Rainbow Dash, who immediately crowed "Aww yeah! That was a major butt-whooping! I bet that loud-mouth will think twice before showing his ugly mug here again!"

Princess Celestia, however, did not share Rainbow Dash's optimistic views.

"If it's true that he will continue to try to force this nameless friend of ours to serve him, and we can't send him away, the only sensible place to keep him is Canterlot. There, my sister and I can watch over him, as well as your brother, Twilight Sparkle."

Rainbow Dash, who had been going on about how awesome that fight scene was, immediately looked rather disappointed. However, Twilight Sparkle looked rather relieved, as did a few of the others.

"Well, I can't say I'm not a little satisfied. I just don't know what I would do if that Tenebrae fellow returned to Ponyville. I mean, I have my livelihood to consider," said the white one. Well, now I know who my least favorite of these ponies is.

Pinkie Pie also looked rather disappointed.

"Aww, we don't get to name you! And you get to go to Canterlot! Oh well, if you're ever in the mood for a party, remember the name Pinkie Pie!"

But one thing was bugging me. The Princess wanted to keep me in Canterlot, she said. That, if anything, sounded like a prison sentence. They had to keep me locked up so Tenebrae wouldn't come back. Not my ideal cup of tea, considering I can't even sit still for five seconds (at this I fidgeted again). Naturally, I felt compelled to protest. But before I could say anything, Celestia interrupted me.

"I know you won't like it, but you have to bear with it for now. You can defend yourself just fine from this… well… I don't know exactly what he is. He may have shown himself as an alicorn-," oh, that's what the term for that group of ponies is, "but I have a feeling he goes by many forms. Rabbit trail aside, while he wasn't expecting a showing in fisticuffs from you, he will be prepared for that next time. My sister and I can teach you how to use Pegasus magic. As Rainbow Dash demonstrated, it has many uses, and you may find it to your liking."

But that still didn't say anything about why I have to be locked up. Tenebrae didn't have to appear only where I was, did he? Like, if I were locked up in this Canterlot, that wouldn't stop him from appearing somewhere else in Equestria.

_**Actually, it would.**_

Whoa now. Now there's two voices in my head. Not to mention it sounds somewhat feminine. I'm not comfortable with that at all!

_**I do apologize for intruding. Circumstances force me to do this, and I'm sorry, but I have no choice. My brother cannot normally enter this land. He can only appear here because you yourself serve as a living door to it. Trust my judgment, nameless one, and go with the Princess. She will keep you safe. Tenebrae told you of me, but he neglected to give you my name. I am Lux, the embodiment of all Light. We will meet in the future, but I cannot tell you more.**_

She's certainly making a much better impression on me than Tenebrae did. Well, I suppose I can go along with it for now. I still don't like the sound of being locked up though. One of these days, there's going to be hell to pay for it.

"Fine," I said to Princess Celestia. "I'll go with you."

Celestia gave a kind smile.

"It won't be a prison, I promise you. We simply have to put a couple of spells on you to monitor you, and you should be free after that. But I will need you to do a certain… favor… for me."

That didn't sound so bad, but a favor from a princess? Well that's rather hard to accept. Oh wait, you can't interpret sarcasm in text.

"What kind of favor is this?" I asked.

Celestia's smile shrunk a little.

"My sister Luna has trouble adjusting to her new life. She cannot make friends nearly as well or quickly as you do. You don't even have a memory, and you've already befriended us all. Or at least, we count you as a friend, and considering your reaction earlier, we assume you count us as friends as well. While you learn from Luna and I, I want you also to help Luna learn how to, well, be friendly. Twilight Sparkle here has already given you some progress to start with, having helped her last Nightmare Night, but it was only a trifle compared to what she still has to overcome. I would help her myself, but it is no easy thing to balance ruling an entire realm and teaching your little sister how to make friends. Besides, you seem like someone she would like."

And again, I'm so glad I have a black body. I'm pretty sure I would have put a tomato to shame in redness. This princess is trying to hook me up with her sister? Seriously?

Well, dating a princess really doesn't seem so- oh wait, she's a pony. I forgot. Yeah, this is going to be a fun stay, I can already tell.

"Uhh, okay. When are we leaving?"

* * *

_I also like to end all chapters with a short(er) Author's note, asking for feedback, and explaining a few of the things I put in there._

_For example, Tenebrae? For those of you who have played Tales of Symphonia, his name may sound familiar. That's because it's the name of a villain. I did not steal it from ToS. You know why? Tenebrae is the Latin word for Darkness (noun/personification). Last I checked, no one could copyright words in a language. Also, I have never played ToS. I just know he's an antagonist, like he is here._

_Also, I am a big League of Legends player. My brother, when I pitched him the idea of making Lux a female because after starting to play LoL I can never see Lux as a guy's name ever again, says "It does sort of sound like a guy's name though." Well, not so to me, so Lux is a female. She won't make a reappearance till much later, not even in text form._

_Now, since this was written post-Season 2 but pre-Season 3 (for anyone reading this after season 3 starts, you lucky bastards, in case there's more Luna characterization), Luna will be the Luna from Luna Eclipsed, though she will slowly change. I'm placing her biological age at around 20-23, with my nameless OC's at 20, even though she is at least a millennium older. Now I mention it, I'm starting to see some similarities between Luna and Aang from Avatar The Last Airbender._

_Now, a few final things. My Nameless OC won't be having flashbacks till he gets his memory back, which is sooner than one would think, but those little things I put in there when he was beating the crap out of Tenebrae… Allow me to explain. A person's personality is based on his experiences in life. However, this guy has none (to be fair, he does, but he doesn't remember any of them). Therefore, one of the ways he tries to recover his memory is to back-trace certain aspects of his personality. For example, that moment there? There was one moment in my characterization for him where I went "And he needs to have a moment where he steps up and grows a pair, when some thug threatens his friends." This also led to me making his Cutie Mark a flame. If it gets out of control, like it did when Tenebrae attacked the Mane 6 (and__ Celestia), Aequivalere (wait and see who he is) help you._

_So, __now that I have finished a (relatively) short Chapter 1 (compared to others I've read, since, while I have the inspiration and patience, I have an annoying habit of being unable to flesh out too many details without it turning into Purple Prose) , how did I do? Your review is much appreciated._

_Also, thanks to those who reviewed this chapter earlier and helped me catch mistakes in it.__  
_

_One final note, a Pony Generator made by General Zoi helped me come up with the appearances for Tenebrae and No-Name. You can find them on my DeviantArt, username Raetekusu..  
_


	2. A Rough Start

_**A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 2: A Rough Start**_

_Chapter 2 officially opens here. I received some nice critique from friends and bronies and other readers alike. Overall, I got the same complaint from a few ponies: Chapter 1 was a little rushed. Well, Chapter 2 will be significantly slower. To explain, Tenebrae attacked blitzkrieg-style because he wanted no foreign influence but his own shaping No-Name's feelings about the world, the better to twist him to his will. Well, EPIC FAIL, and Tenebrae will be taking his sweet time from here on out._

_This chapter will bear witness to the introduction of Luna. Everypony, I warn you. There will be __**CANTERLOCK **__and use of majestic plural, at least at first. As of the Season 2 finale, Luna does seem to have improved greatly, but as the saying goes, old habits die hard, and they will be back for No-Name to have to help get rid of. Now, Luna's not going to be too bitchy here, despite the chapter name. Neither is No-Name, but since he's sarcastic and rather snarky, Luna's going to get offended pretty easily, even though she has a rather prankish nature, as seen at the end of Luna Eclipsed (Trolluna, anypony?)._

_Also, my little sister from a different mister (and missus too, get your mind out of the gutter) has been kind enough to start drawing me a cover picture for this story, which I will (probably) use to help upload it to EqD._

_Legal disclaimer was last chapter.__ Deal with it._

_Now then, it looks like it's time…_

(•_•)

( •_•)⌐■-■

(⌐■_■)

…_to get on with the show._

_YEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!_

* * *

Canterlot was a lot different than what I expected, to say the least.

From what Twilight Sparkle told me, as well as the others, it was a royal city, with gold, silver, jewels, et cetera. Well, it did have gold, silver, jewels, and all that. But I expected it to be something of a city of gold.

Not a place with twisting towers, purple gold and white décor, and towers _everyfreakingwhere_.

As Princess Celestia and I flew over the city proper toward a large palace/castle structure higher up on the mountain on which Canterlot was built, she was explaining to me the history of the city, things I generally didn't care about, and how a famed author named J. R. R. Coltien based his city Minas Tirith in the Lord of the Rings on it.

I watched the daily life unfold below me as I flew past the city. Ponies everywhere were going about normal lives, oblivious to the fact that an embodiment of darkness had made a threat against their country.

I didn't notice that I had stopped to observe, but the Princess advanced a little farther along before she did. She stopped, turned, and flew back to me. She cast an inquisitive glance my way when I looked up.

"What troubles you, No-Name?" she asked, concern evident. How nice to have ponies who actually care about me! Even though we only met three days ago.

"It's nothing," I said evasively. I didn't really want to go into it. I really felt uncomfortable with the idea of letting a princess play psychiatrist with me when we had only met three days ago.

"You know, you seem like you were made for the element of Honesty, because that was a pretty blatant and obvious lie," she said in a stern, but still kind voice.

"It's them, okay? Down there. Going about their daily lives, not a care in the world! Free! Free to make their own choices, do what they want, and they're _happy! _But not me. Instead, some demi-god of darkness drags me into this world, I have no memories, and as far as I can tell, from watching some of Rainbow Dash's movies, it looks like I'm the damn Chosen One. Why didn't I get a say in my destiny?"

The Princess was quiet for a long moment, watching me carefully.

"It seems I have figured out why your cutie mark is a flame," she finally said.

"Oh? Do tell," I said, genuinely interested. Anything to help me find out more about who I was.

"It seems that you, like a flame, are not meant to be restrained. You are one of the ponies who desire above all else the desire to choose your future. I suppose that is why you became a Pegasus rather than a unicorn, like he obviously thought."

"Yeah? Why's that?" I asked, feeling disappointed. I thought it was going to be something I hadn't already pieced together.

She nodded at my back. I turned and saw only my wings.

"To many an Earth Pony and unicorn, wings symbolize the ability to go freely wherever you want. The ability to choose where you want to go, and what you want to do. But they cannot, because they are trapped on the ground. They rarely, if ever, are granted the chance to soar above the clouds," she said, continuing. "When they finally are able to find what makes them truly happy, it was their decision to make. Fret not, my little nameless friend. Like everypony else here, you have a say in your destiny, and one day, the choice you make will grant you the freedom you seek."

I tried to keep it together, but the next thing I knew, I was laughing my head off. I even flipped upside-down because of how I was feeling.

"W-what? Why are you laughing?" asked Celestia, sounding very confused and slightly offended.

"Just- just… well, YOU. That whole thing! Never knew you were that deep, Princess. I mean, I knew you had to have it in you, but I never thought I could draw it out that quickly." I managed to recover and flipped myself back over, after which, I started to fly myself toward the palace we were heading towards, as fast as possible. I looked back at the Princess as I flew. She looked very surprised, but smiled and flew after me.

We landed on a balcony of sorts, where five ponies were there to greet us. Four were white, with stony expressions of focus, and who all wore golden armor. The fifth was taller than they, but shorter than the both of us. His armor was much finer than theirs, with slots in the back of his torso piece for his wings. His coat was grey, his eyes the brightest shade of blue possible, and an expression of focus much like his four companions was currently directed at the Princess.

"Greetings Princess," he said in a somewhat deep and gravelly voice, as he lowered his head. He sounded rather aged.

"Good morning, Captain. How was everything while I was gone?" asked the Princess casually, apparently deciding that saying she was attacked by a dickish demi-god would give this old geezer a heart attack and kill him.

"The castle's been on high alert since the news came back of that pony who attacked you and your consorts. I've never seen the Nightmares that tight since their inception. Knowing Prince Shining Armor, he would have called us off, but thankfully, he's been rather cooperative about it. Probably just to protect Princess Cadenza, though," the elder pony said, still bowed in respect. When he mentioned Shining Armor, he seemed rather disapproving about him.

"I understand. No-Name, this is Captain Squall. He serves as the head of the Solar Guard, my unit of Royal Guardsponies. Princess Luna has her own guard unit as well, but she currently hasn't elected somepony to lead them. She figures it's better if they all work together rather than have to follow somepony's orders."

Captain Squall looked up at me, inspected me quickly, then nodded at me. I nodded back.

"Where is he from?" asked the Captain.

"I don't know, and neither does he, though he's connected to that pony who attacked me. Which is why I brought him here. With the combined might of Princess Luna, Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, the Royal Guards, and myself, should Tenebrae show himself again, he will be hard-pressed to survive."

I wish I shared the Princess' optimistic view of the situation. Based on the way Tenebrae had just up and shrugged off the combined attack of three ponies, one of them being an alicorn, I don't think Tenebrae will be much affected by three of them, along with this Prince Shining Armor.

"You may return to your post, Captain. I need no guard to watch me while I lead our guest to his room."

Squall bowed his head again, turned around, and began to walk back into the palace. Celestia and I followed him down a spiral staircase into an open hall.

The walls inside this castle were much less decorated than the outside of the castle, or even the city proper. Rather than gold and gems, the walls were made of plain stone. Several banners hung off the walls, some depicting suns, others depicting moons.

Squall and the four guards went to the left, toward what I suspected was the mane complex of the castle. Celestia and I, however, went the opposite direction. She led me toward a much wider staircase that led up into a different wing of the castle. There were several different rooms up here. Most of them were simple bedrooms, although they looked very grand compared to the simple rooms in Ponyville. I saw a kitchen, dining room, living room, even a game room.

Watching me look everywhere, Celestia explained, "This is the living wing of the castle. Most of the time, the guests live up here. Mine and Luna's rooms are in a different wing, so currently, you'll be the only one living in this wing. I'll have one of my servants, one who specializes in cooking, fix you something, unless you find it in yourself to do it on your own. If you need anything, let any of the castle workers or myself know. When you meet Luna, I'm sure she would be more than happy to oblige as well. However, I now have to go attend to my duties. Pick any room you see, and you are welcome to explore anywhere in Canterlot Castle, or the town. I will speak with Luna on when we will begin teaching you to use your Pegasus magic. Enjoy your stay, my nameless friend."

She turned and left, heading back the way we had come. I watched her go before I looked around for a room to stay in. All of them were literally exactly the same, just a few hooves apart from each other, so I walked into one right next to the kitchen. The bed was a four-poster bed, with violet curtains. A window opposite the bed looked out over Canterlot. A red rug was laid out over the polished white tile floor, and a very large bookcase dominated the far wall. A little in front of that was a table with writing utensils and the like. A thought hit me. Would I have to use my mouth to write? Above me, a crystal chandelier dangled and lit the room brightly.

I liked the room, overall. First thing's first, I decided to read. Nothing else to do, really, except explore, but I had already decided to explore the city later. For now, I felt like enjoying my room.

A book caught my eye, closer to the ground. Logic puzzles. Goody. I love puzzles.

Naturally, I pulled it out and put it on the table, looking through it. Within moments, I was buried within it. I enjoyed the puzzles Twilight Sparkle had posed me in an attempt to kill time that second day. We spent a few hours just giving riddles to each other, getting more and more complex, and harder and harder. I managed to pull a real nice one moments after I had solved one that had taken me nearly half-an-hour. Here's how mine went: You are the ruler of a medieval empire and you are about to have a celebration tomorrow. The celebration is the most important party you have ever hosted. You've got 1000 bottles of wine you were planning to open for the celebration, but you find out that one of them is poisoned. The poison exhibits no symptoms until death. Death occurs within ten to twenty hours after consuming even the minutest amount of poison. You have over a thousand slaves at your disposal and just under 24 hours to determine which single bottle is poisoned. You have a handful of prisoners about to be executed, and it would mar your celebration to have anypony else killed. What is the smallest number of prisoners you must have to drink from the bottles to be absolutely sure to find the poisoned bottle within 24 hours?

Upon looking through the book, I found that these logic puzzles weren't riddles; they had to do with numbers. Hmm… interesting. I looked up the instructions to one I was currently on, with a 9x9 grid of boxes, each 3x3 had a bolder outline around it, and there were several numbers within the box already, one per box. Apparently, I had to find a way to make a numerical sequence from 1 to 9, using each number once in each column, row, and 3x3. Sounds fun.

Knowing the Princess probably wouldn't like the idea of me marking in the books themselves, I copied the grid and numbers onto a blank sheet of parchment (and that alone took me nearly fifteen minutes, due to the fact that the mouth, as expected, does not make a good writing conduit, but I have nothing better to write with).

For some reason, this puzzle seemed easier than I expected. Within a few minutes, I had solved it, and started drawing out a new one. That one didn't last long either. I lost track of the time around my third or fourth puzzle. The pile of sheets of parchment had soon been reduced a sizable amount. When I finally felt the effects of hunger, I stopped and looked out the window.

A golden sunset dazzled the sky, with the light reflecting off of the clouds very brightly. I was very much surprised. I didn't think I had solved that many. I looked down at my parchment. It was easy to tell my writing with my mouth had improved greatly. While the lines on the first puzzles were crooked, the boxes misshapen, and the numbers malformed, the much later ones had gotten neater and neater. By the time I had gone to compare the first one and the last, it was like an entirely different pony had written it down.

Well, feeling satisfied that I had successfully wasted an entire day doing nothing productive, I started making my way over to the kitchens to see what there was I could make.

As expected, and all the more disappointing because of it, no meat was to be found. I mean, I know they're equestrians and all, but no meat at all? Not even ham or such? And that's not to mention I hate veggies. I figured it might have been just Ponyville, but nope, Canterlot too seemed to share the vegetarian sentiment. Grumbling under my breath, I went over to the store cupboards, looking for anything to use.

The cabinets contained plates and the like, the drawers contained silverware, and the pots and pans hung from wooden pegs on the walls. Two doors were at the back of the room, one was made of regular wood, but one was made of metal. Inside the regular wooden one was a normal pantry, with various foods everywhere, which I started taking note of, to see if I could make anything. The metal door was what separated the really cold refrigerator (and a large one, at that) from the warm kitchen.

Well, it seemed my fears were laid to rest. There were some meat products in here. Mostly dairy-related, like eggs, but I spotted some packages of bacon, lamb, and beef on the far wall of the refrigerator. Seems not all ponies are vegetarians, after all. Feeling delighted at the fact that I might get to eat normal food (for me, anyway), I started taking out some of those packages of beef patties, as well as some cheese and bacon, intent on making myself a good old-fashioned hamburger. Good thing I somehow had the knowledge of how to use a grill.

And that is really what bugs me. Knowledge has to be some form of memory, I mean, you had to learn it sometime, but for some reason, I knew a lot of stuff, but I still don't know where I learned it from, or exactly how it is I know it. I noticed that when Twilight and I were telling riddles. I noticed that I knew a lot of the stuff, and yet I had absolutely no idea how I knew it, and it gave me a monster headache to think about it. The first one I'd had since before Tenebrae appeared, and the only one since also.

Within moments, it was heated, and I had two patties sizzling in a manner most appetizing on it. The bacon was sizzling next to it also. I was hungry, and I was going to let no one ruin this meal for me.

"_**HELLO CITIZEN!**_" came a voice from right behind me. I yelped and literally flew up and hit the ceiling in utter shock from the loudness and proximity of the voice to my left ear. I had also sent the package of cheese flying across the room, where it hit a few pots and pans hanging on the wall, causing them all to fall off with loud clangs, which I'm pretty sure may have woken up the entire castle.

As I rubbed my head, where a sizeable lump had already started to rise, I looked up at my new "friend." She, for her voice was unmistakably female, was as tall as me, with a long flowing mane of blue, topped with a black three-pointed tiara, and a darker blue body. She wore a navy-blue chestpiece embossed with a crescent moon and the area around her cutie mark, also a crescent moon, was navy-colored as well, with several circles of the same material a little down her flank. She was an alicorn like Celestia, but this one looked quite a bit younger than her. She appeared very surprised at what had just transpired right before her eyes, staring down at me with a look of some disdain.

"_**DIDST WE FRIGHTEN-"**_she started, but she stopped, grinned apologetically, and lowered her voice a hell of a lot. "We're sorry. Didst we frighten thee?"

I looked over her shoulder to see who the other pony with her was, but saw no one. Confused, I stared back up at her and asked, "What do you mean by 'we?'"

She blinked.

"It is tradition to use the Royal We when addressing our subjects, is it not?" she asked, sounding slightly impatient.

That explained it. I realized she had been using Majestic Plural. I realized this must be Princess Luna. I could see what Celestia meant when she said Luna had trouble adjusting. Who talks like that normally?

Well, apparently her.

"Oh! I see now," I said when that realization dawned on me. "Well, your older sister doesn't use it anymore, and I'm not quite certain I'm one of your subjects, to be honest."

She cocked her head at me suspiciously.

"How didst thou know that mine sister was Tia?"

I stood up, checked the still-sizzling meat on the grill until satisfied it was almost done, and returned my gaze to the Princess.

"Well, considering you have a total of three moons on you, you're an alicorn, and your sister told me you had quite a bit of trouble adjusting to normal culture after a thousand-year imprisonment on the moon, it makes sense to think that you're Princess Luna."

Luna nodded her head.

"Indeed I am. Thou looks different from anypony I've ever seen. I've never seen one with a black coat before, nor one with as bright red a mane as thine. What didst thou say thy name was?" she asked, interested.

"I didn't. I don't remember my name, Princess. I don't remember anything about who I am. All I have to go by is what knowledge I have, which I must have gotten from somewhere, and what little of my personality I know about myself. Your sister and my friends down in Ponyville referred to me by No-Name while I was there the last few days, though. I suppose it'll have to do."

She looked slightly alarmed by this.

"Thou meanst that _thou _was the pony this Tenebrae attacked Tia and her friends for the sake of getting? _Thou_ art the one not from our world? I must say, that explains why I have seen nopony who looks like thou. It seems to us- I mean, me-, that this Tenebrae wanted thee to be an outsider among the common ponies- a stranger among them, if thou wilt- so that even if he failed in turning thee to his side, thou wouldst likely not be accepted by our race due to thou being so… different. Clearly he dost not understand our race very well, for it seems we have welcomed thee with open arms."

I'm not gonna lie. This archaic speech is really starting to screw with me.

"Apparently not," I agreed.

Luna sniffed, apparently wondering why the room suddenly smelled so good. The bacon was almost done, and the patties were ready. I got out a plate and used a spatula to scoop the patties onto it, before doing the same for the bacon.

"I have never seen one who cooks their food with meat before. We do not find it barbaric, but we still prefer vegetables. Tell me, No-Name, what is it thou art making?" she asked, genuinely curious.

I smiled as I grabbed a bun from the pantry.

"This, my dear Princess, is something called a hamburger. I've been craving one of these ever since I got here. Do you happen to know if there's any ketchup in the refrigerator?"

Luna blinked again.

"No-Name, I have been sealed away in the moon for nigh on a millennium. I am not familiar with the culinary confections of the here and now. Pray tell, what is this… catch-up?"

Well, that makes things rather blunt. I completely forgot about that.

"Oh. I'm sorry, you wouldn't know, my mistake. It's just a sauce topping made from tomatoes. It's red, thick, and very tangy if it's made right. Personally, I love to put it on my hamburgers."

Luna blinked again. Now, I was starting to get rather irritated. I shuffled again.

"So, did you want something, Princess? If I'm not mistaken, this isn't just for idle chatter."

The princess rolled her eyes in a thoughtful way before answering, "Nay, it wasn't. However, the purpose of me being here was merely to meet thou, No-Name, before I took on my duties tonight, though I must admit, I didst not expect anypony to be in the kitchens this late. I expected thee to be in thine room. According to my dear sister, thou hast been sitting in there all day, working on number games. Art thou reclusive on purpose?"

I half-laughed, half-coughed.

"No, not on purpose. I just had my mind made up to spend the day here at the castle. I figured I'd have plenty of time to explore the town itself tomorrow, after learning how to make lightning strike ponies."

I was only joking (when am I not, aside from when a demi-god of darkness is threatening your friends?), but the Princess did not seem to be in the mood for amusement. Her eyebrows shot upward into her mane so fast they would have put Rainbow Dash to shame. Her mouth fell open in astonishment. But that was quickly replaced by a look of anger.

"Thou wouldst learn the noble and most sacred art of Pegasus magic, merely for the purpose of _**AMUSEMENT!"**_

Uh-oh, she was shouting again. This is not good.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Geez, princess, I was only joking!" I shouted, cowering, and trying to put an apologetic look on my face. But, as it turns out, I couldn't help but crack a smile. First instinct told me I was dead; second instinct told me to clamp my teeth firmly on my tongue, so I did, and I stopped smiling. However, that did not stop the princess from noticing the grin.

"_**AND THOU ART NOT EVEN SORRY! TRULY THOU ART UNWORTHY OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THIS MOST SACRED AND NECESSARY ART!"**_

I raised a defensive hoof, attempting to stop her for a moment.

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to grin there, I just… well, that's just what I do when in the middle of a serious confrontation. Shoulda been there when Celestia was asking me what I knew about Tenebrae, which was nothing at all. I swear, she looked ready to send me to the moon."

Luna's expression went completely blank. It took me a moment to get what I had just said. When I did, I felt ready to slam my face onto the currently-hot grill.

Great going, No-Name. You totally offended the Princess of the Night, who the Princess of the Day sent for you to make friends with, and to teach how to better fit in.

Open mouth, insert hoof.

"How dare thee?" she asked after a while. Her voice was deathly quiet. "Didst thou have any idea what my sister did to me a millennium ago, when Nightmare Moon was in control of me? Did it even cross thy mind that she didn't want to? But nay. Instead, thou makest sport of it. And to think I came up here, intending to befriend thee."

She promptly turned and marched out of the room, her tail whipping me in the face on the way around. I didn't do anything to avoid it. I totally deserved that. I did, however, attempt to make things right.

"Luna! Wait!" I called.

I ran after her, and caught her just as she was starting to walk down the stairs. Her head was high, and it looked like she was doing her best to ignore me, though it was very clear I had really hurt her.

I sighed. "Listen, Luna, I'm really sorry. I promise I wasn't making fun of what happened all that time ago. That's just me, alright? You're completely the opposite of me. You're always serious, and you never really joke about things. I, on the other hoof, like to joke and not be serious about stuff that I should be serious about."

"And thou likest to speak without thinking," she said sharply, clearly still angry over my outburst.

"Yeah, that too. Seriously, can you forgive me for that? I'm not saying I won't do it again, because something's telling me I will, but I'm asking your pardon this time around."

Luna stopped as we reached the mane hall, where hours earlier, Squall had parted from Celestia and me.

She was content to just look straight ahead, determinedly avoiding eye contact with me, while she thought this through. A few minutes passed. I think she was trying to milk the situation for as much as it was worth. I tried to sit still, but my usual itch was overpowering, and I fidgeted every few seconds. This seemed to irritate her.

"Canst thou not sit still for more than five seconds?" she finally asked, sounding exasperated and amused.

"No," I answered bluntly. "The itch to move came with the package you see before you."

She let out a small scoff and smiled. Relief broke over me when I saw it, because, while I knew she was probably still angry, it meant progress.

"Thou remindest me of a dancer. Always moving, never content to sit in one place. Well, such is the nature of their talent, I suppose. I accept thine apology, No-Name. Please make sure it is the only apology I have to accept from thee in the future."

I half-smiled.

"No promises, but I'll do my best, Princess. You have my word on that one."

She seemed satisfied.

"That will work. Wouldst thou likest me to showeth thee around the castle? From what I understand, Tia only showed thee the wing of the castle thou art residing in, and even then, not so much of it."

Well, I suppose if it'll help me get back in the Princess' good books, why not?

"Sure. Where first?" I asked.

She got a little grin, and gestured toward the door Squall had gone through.

"I'll start with the Grand Hall. After thee, No-Name."

Well, as it turns out, she had taken another opportunity to get back at me. Not three seconds later, I felt her hoof collide with the back of my head.

"Ow! Hay! What gives!" I asked, rubbing gently at the throbbing spot on my head, which, coincidentally, was the same spot I had smashed against the ceiling some five or so minutes earlier.

Luna gave me a faux-innocent look.

"What? You deserve it," she said in one of those sweetly devilish voices. Well, apparently she had some sense of fun. I suppose it's better than nothing. However, now there's two of us parasprites on the loose. Is the world even big enough for the both of us?

For the next hour or so, she led me around the castle, lecturing me about how old it was, about how her's and Celestia's rooms were on opposite ends of the castle, about how in the early days of the Equestrian Monarchy, several attempts to destabilize the kingdom were made by outside forces, for example a Draconequus named Discord, but all were stopped by her, her sister, and the Elements of Harmony.

And despite the fact that I hadn't been interested in Celestia's history lessons before, I found myself listening to Luna. About the same history I had done my best to ignore earlier. Good _lord, _me, what is wrong with you?

We were in the throne room now, where four Royal Guardsponies stood. They looked completely different from the ones I saw accompanying Squall earlier. Instead of a bright white coat with golden armor, these ponies looked positively… well, dark. They had dark grey coats, with blue armor (the same shade as Luna's hair). Their wings were bat-like, akin to Tenebrae's, and where the Royal Guards had a plume of blue atop their helmets, theirs were also bat-like. Their expressions bore the same focus their counterparts had, but what made them truly fearsome were their eyes. They were golden, with cat-like slits for pupils. Their eyes bore down on me when they saw me with the Princess.

"These are the Nightmares. Loyal and fearless, I created them as a small army when I was still Nightmare Moon, originally calling them the Lunar Guard. When Twilight Sparkle and her friends returned me to normal with the Elements of Harmony, most of them vanished, but the twelve that remain had immensely strong willpower, and did not vanish, continuing to serve me in the night."

Suddenly I realized something. And me being me, I just had to point it out.

"Your voice! I've just realized, you've started talking normally." To be frank, she had been talking normally (well, normally for me) ever since she clopped me upside the head. I just hadn't noticed, but in hindsight, it was rather obvious.

Luna blinked in surprise and hastily tried to change back, appearing flustered and somewhat embarrassed.

"Oh, have I? I had not noticed. Clearly you are- I mean, thou art- sorely mistaken. I wouldst _never _speak in-"

But I cut her off, smirking at her.

"Oh, face it Princess. You're learning to lighten up."

That made her even more flustered.

"'Tis a lie! I have not lightened up! You are- thou art- clearly hearing things, nameless one! Never would I abandon the dialect of my ancestors! It is tradition-"

I just shook my head and laughed, and when I did, it seemed she gave up the façade.

"Oh, fine. I give up. Whatever it is about you, that insult you paid me back in the kitchens did make me see that I was being rather… stiff. Not to mention, Tia told me I was supposed to be learning how to make friends from you. To be honest, I find that rather harsh, but, well, it seems she thought you would be an excellent teacher. My only question is, what took you so long to notice?"

I laughed again.

"Believe it or not, Princess, but I've actually been interested in your history lessons. Too interested to care, really."

Luna smiled as she flew up to her throne, which was made of silver, and stood at equal height to the throne next to her, made of gold.

"Well, the time has come for me to take on my duties for the night. We'll have time to socialize tomorrow, when I teach you how to strike ponies with lightning."

I hoof-pumped.

"YES!" I crowed.

"In the meantime, weren't you making a hamburger in the kitchens, which you have now left sitting there for a little over an hour?" she asked, with a nice little smirk on her face.

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.

"BUCK YOU, LUNA!" I shouted behind me as I took off back toward the kitchens.

She chuckled.

"Sleep well, No-Name," she called as I left the throne room.

-X-

Well, my hamburger was a total loss. It had already gone cold by the time I had gotten back, the cheese was now slightly melted from sitting out for too long, and- well, you get the picture. So I woke up as hungry as a starved wolf. And I craved meat.

Staggering into the kitchens, where I had taken the time to clean up my mess as diligently as I could, I managed to find a few more breakfast-type meats, like sausages, and get them going. I was in the middle of making myself an omelet when a pony walked into the room.

He (or she) had a tan coat, with equally brown eyes, and a thin moustache. He wore a chef's hat and an apron as he walked in, and his cutie mark was a spatula. He was a Unicorn, and I thought that was awesome, because I figured that, because of their magic, Unicorns would make the best chefs.

"Oh! You're avake. Preencess Ceylehsteea sent me to make sure you vere up and at 'em. Eef not, she sez, vake heem up and zen make heem breakfast, provided he vants some."

I got his accent easily enough. I thought it was rather cool, for a chef pony to have an accent like zat- I mean, that. Damn those addictively cool accents!

"So, vat are you making? I can help weeth eet," he asked, looking over my concoction, and, if I'm not mistaken, looking quite impressed and eager. Instantly, my self-confidence in my cooking ability shot up. Thank goodness for innate talent, I suppose.

"It's called an omelet. It's made from eggs scrambled together, and cooked on a pan until it's all nice like that, you see? You can add things like bacon, ham, tomatoes, jalapeños, and all that to season it a little. I'm not a fan of vegetables, so I stayed away from them."

This chef seemed a little disappointed by my choice.

"Ah, but sir, vegetables make ze best seasoning for all kinds of theengs! For example, onions are a common ingreediant in mehny deeshes, but von hardly noticez them. Hmm… Zis 'omelet' looks promising. And qvite appetizing. Allow me?" he asked, giving me an inquisitive glance. I nodded, and he took off a little bit of the corner of my omelet, which was about ten seconds away from being set onto a plate and eaten (immediately, this time, to avoid what happened last night), and popped it into his mouth. A few chews later, he swallowed.

"Ah, eet eez vehry excellent a deesh, however, eet eez no mahsterpiece. I suppose, eef you vere to show me how thees eez made, I could make thees a true vork of art."

His response didn't disappoint me, in fact just the opposite, but I had to say, "Another time," because I was eager to get on with learning how to strike ponies with lightning.

"Oh vell. I vill hold you to zat promise. My name eez Chef Cordon Bleu. Vot, may I ask, eez yours?"

Cordon Bleu? Nice name. Totally not named for a food product, or for that matter, a Pony Cooking School, whose cookbooks I had seen when I was looking for the proper recipe for a breakfast burrito, which, disappointingly enough, did not seem to exist.

"Well, I don't remember it. Everypony around here calls me No-Name, Nameless One, or some variation thereof," I explained. I resisted the urge to yawn, because I had gotten up really early (mornings are proof that there is a Devil, and that he hates me). Cordon Bleu, however, seemed to have drained all of my energy, for he was already bustling about the room, getting ingredients and the like together. He explained that, since I had already made myself breakfast, he was going to make Luna some also, though I doubted Luna would be having omelets this morning.

As I finished and started cleaning the dishes (a task that I had become familiar with last night), I felt somepony tap me on the shoulder. When I turned, it was one of the Nightmares. He bore that same expression of focus, but it seemed more relaxed, as if he weren't on duty anymore.

"Excuse me No-Name," WOW his voice was not what I expected! I thought it would be deep, but it was soft and collected. It sounded a bit like Tenebrae, but much less pompous and big-headed. "…but Princess Luna says that today, she would like to meet with you out on the balcony behind her room as soon as possible."

I nodded.

"Thank you…" I trailed off, hoping to give him the hint that I was asking him his name, which he was smart enough to figure out.

"You're welcome. I'm Imbrium, by the way."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Imbrium. Now, exactly where is the Princess' room at?"

It wasn't hard to find, to be honest. In fact, it was only about a five-minute walk to her room. But I had to go to her balcony, so I went back to the landing area Celestia and I had arrived at, and I flew around.

Luna appeared busy in her room when I landed, so I knocked at the door that led in. She looked up, nodded, and motioned with one of her hooves to come in. I opened the door and cantered in rather cautiously.

"So, No-Name, how was your evening? I hope the two large lumps on your head didn't cause you too much discomfort," she added with a smirk.

I decided to take a leaf out of her book, and I just blinked, staring at her with irritation.

"Well, hopefully this will make you feel better, my little Pegasus-" she started, but I cut her off.

"Hay! I resent that! I'm as tall as you!"

She stopped, glared at me for a moment, then continued.

"Now then, obviously you've gotten the hang of flying, else you wouldn't be here to begin with."

I shrugged my wings.

"Wasn't too hard. Only took about a day, really."

She continued on, unperturbed.

"In any case, you'll find that the magic Pegasi use is a lot tougher than the magic unicorns use. While their brand of magic is focused on seeing what they're going to do beforehoof, and through that forethought it will come about, Pegasus magic requires quite a bit more action. For example, the lesson I will teach you today: the movement of clouds."

Her horn glowed and a blackboard appeared, chalk hovering in front of it, poised to write.

"Cloud movement is a basic first lesson because basically, all weather magic revolves around the use of clouds."

Luna drew a very large and puffy cloud on the blackboard.

"Moving clouds requires gentleness more than it does force. See, clouds are made of droplets of water, and Pegasi have a unique ability to push this entire collection of droplets as a whole. Anypony can do it, but the simple fact that Pegasi can fly makes it all too simple for them. All they have to do it place let their wings do the pushing. The slight amount of wind the flapping of the wings gives, coupled with the gentle pushing of one's hooves allows the clouds to be sent moving. It takes time to make them move fast, but it comes with practice. The trick is to be forceful, but to have soft hooves at the same time."

She motioned to me to follow her, and she led me out onto the balcony, where she took flight. I followed, and she led me to a small group of clouds high above Canterlot.

"The young Pegasus Rainbow Dash was kind enough to move these over here at my sister's request for you to practice on. Naturally, she wanted to be the one to teach you how to strike ponies with lightning, but I had to put my hoof down. This ability is essential to being able to cause rain or lightning."

I chuckled at the mention of Rainbow Dash, but my bruise from our first meeting hadn't gone away just yet. I was starting to think that Equestria was going to be absolutely brutal to me while I stayed here.

"Now, a little knowledge of science comes into play here. You see, everything, great or small, is made of particles called atoms. In their most basic sense, they are made of a balance of positive and negative charges, and most Pegasi can feel it when they get close enough, with varying degrees of sensitivity."

Oh great. A _science _lesson. And I thought this was going to be fun.

"Basically, a Pegasus can sense different electromagnetic fields when it gets close enough to them, and the range one can sense typically broadens with age. At your age, I would say you'd be able to sense maybe ten hooves away."

I still didn't understand exactly what I was supposed to be sensing though.

"Sorry Princess, but exactly what am I supposed to be, well, sensing?"

Luna apparently didn't appreciate being interrupted. She glared at me and blinked. That was really starting to bug me. Well, I can easily get her back, so I shuffled a little bit.

"To be honest, the feeling isn't really describable. You just have to sense a difference in the air around you. Here. Fly up to this cloud," she said, indicating a relatively small one right next to her.

I did as she asked, but nothing felt that- wait a minute…

It was like that feeling you get when somepony's holding a pencil tip just millimeters above your skin. That… I don't know how to describe it. I shivered from the feeling. And Luna noticed.

"Ah, you do feel it. Excellent. That is the feeling you should be sensing when you are near a cloud. At first, you'll only be able to sense clouds, but over time, you'll be able to separate electromagnetic fields belonging to plants, the earth, or even other ponies."

She sounded somewhat impressed that I had been able to sense it so quickly. But her remark about being able to differentiate other magnetic fields made me somewhat confused.

"But, if I can sense the fields they give off, what stops me from sensing it all at once?"

Luna smiled.

"Quite simply, the quantity. On the ground, you'll literally sense _everything _around you, and due to the fact that your sense isn't developed enough to see farther than a few hooves, it'll just shut down until the mental assault lessens, such as you coming up here to the clouds. If you pay attention, you may even be able to sense the next cloud over, and possibly even me."

As soon as she said that, I was able to tell apart two distinct feelings. One was the cloud right in front of me, and it was by far the strongest, and the second was to my left, at my 10:00 position, and it was slightly weaker, but it was there. There was another faint feeling from behind me, which I knew was Luna.

"Now that you have sensed the electromagnetic field surrounding the clouds, it's time to attempt to move it. Gently move your hooves within range of the field."

I did as she said. I kept pushing slowly, but before I knew it, my hooves were now right inside the cloud itself.

"Too hard. Your first time, you want to go almost millimeters at a time. At that pace, you'll be able to find that field with your hooves. Simply by moving your hooves inside it, you will cause the cloud to move slowly. It takes time, but you'll learn, but now, let's try again."

-X-

It was dull, trying to get a cloud to move, and I tried diligently to make it move so much as an inch. However, I got nowhere. Luna, on the other hoof, told me that rarely do any Pegasi sense the clouds on their first day. I figured it had to be because my body was a lot larger than just a filly's, and my mind was more developed. But I hadn't the time to grow stronger in that regard.

By the time we had finished, my wings did not want me to fly anymore. Luna gave me the typical fitness speech, how the more you fly, the stronger and more enduring you'll get, and that I should just grin and bear it and not be such a baby. It was nearly noon when I finished, and Luna was ready to sleep. However, I was going to explore the town. I hadn't gotten the chance to do that yesterday, because I was wasting time with Su Doku puzzles.

After cleaning up in the Guest Wing Bathroom, I decided to canter out to the town. It was a nice day, and I didn't feel like flying after the brutal length of time I was forced to stay in the air. I was half-way to the town when somepony shouted "No-Name!" in a female voice.

I looked around and saw a grey Pegasus flying toward me, waving something at me frantically. She had a pale gold mane, yellow eyes that stared in different directions, and a brown mailbag slung over her shoulder. She got closer, and I saw that the thing she was waving was a letter, though from whom I couldn't tell.

Suddenly, the wind kicked up and blew the letter out of her hoof, which led her to chase it… into a tree. I shut my eyes when she crashed and fell out, but she acted like it was an everyday occurrence, getting up and shaking it off like it was nothing. She picked up the letter from the ground, blew all the dirt and such off of it, then held it out at me, grinning broadly.

"Are you okay, miss?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"I just don't know what went wrong. But these accidents happen a lot," she said, before realizing she had actually pulled out the wrong letter, and replaced it with the right one, which she offered to me.

I took it and saw that the letter was from Rainbow Dash, who was wondering if I knew when the next time I would be in Ponyville was. She clearly still wanted to try to show me a few things, but everypony else said hello as well (Pinkie Pie reminded me about giving her a shout when I felt like partying).

"Thanks," I said to the mailmare, who saluted, smiling widely.

"No problem at all, mister!" she said. "Is No-Name your real name?" she asked.

I nodded. I remembered her. She was flying around Ponyville all three days I was there, delivering the mail. But why was she out here?

"Oh. My name's Derpy Hooves. Well, my real name's Ditzy Doo Hooves, but everypony calls me Derpy."

I smiled back at her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Derpy. Why, might I ask, did you come all the way out to Canterlot to deliver a letter to me?"

She smiled somewhat mischievously.

"I'm not supposed to be doing this, but when Rainbow Dash asked me to give this to you, I knew it made the perfect excuse. See, one of my friends said he was going to meet me out here, by the Canterlot Observatory with something he called a TARDIS that he wanted to show me, but I don't know what a TARDIS is. Do you know what a TARDIS is?"

I shook my head.

"Oh. Well, whatever it is, I hope it has muffins!" she said enthusiastically, taking off again. "See you around, No-Name!"

She waved at me as she flew off, running into a couple of the Wonderbolts as they flew by.

I cantered into town, looking at all the buildings, searching for somewhere to eat lunch. However, before I could really decide, a shadow flew over me. I looked up to see none other than Princess Celestia herself flying down toward me.

"Ah, there you are No-Name. Luna said your lessons went well today."

Around us, the other ponies were bowing to the Princess, who simply waved a hoof, as if to say "Go on with your daily lives, nothing to see here."

"Well, I can't really compare to other Pegasi. I've never actually seen them learn before."

"In any case, I came looking for you for another reason. You're out here to explore and grab a bite to eat, correct?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Well, for one, I thought you could use a bit of company. Two, you don't exactly have bits right now, but we'll work on that later. For now, pick any restaurant you want, my treat."

I didn't know they had a system of economy here. I should have guessed, though. It doesn't make sense for the ponies not to work for bits. However, I was still concerned with finding somewhere to eat. Celestia tapped my shoulder.

"If you're looking for somewhere that serves meat, I suggest Mike's Deli. They have the most delicious pastrami around, probably even better than the pastrami Cordon Bleu makes. Speaking of which, he tells me he thinks you need time off tomorrow to show him how to make that omelet you made today."

I laughed. My omelet wasn't_ that_ good.

"A whole day off, just to show him how to make something? It's just a pancake of scrambled eggs, rolled up with some meats and spices inside. What more does he need to know?"

Celestia looked at the sky thoughtfully.

"It IS Cordon Bleu. Knowing him, he's got an idea. He probably wants to watch you do it first, then attempt it himself, with you watching to make sure he does it right. That's how he does things."

My stomach growled, returning my attention to the task at hoof.

"Back to the topic of lunch, yeah, this deli place sounds good."

The Deli was actually really good. I did follow Celestia's recommendation and try their pastrami, which I gotta say, I'll be sure to get some more of if I can find myself a way to make bits. What surprised me most was that, for a restaurant in a city made of gold and gems, it was surprisingly cheap. Only 12 bits for a sandwich, when according to Celestia, typically restaurants cost in the neighborhood of 50-75 for just a meal.

Celestia, however, wanted to talk about me and Luna. It wasn't a bad thing, though. She says that, for one day, I've already had an effect on her.

"Oh? I asked, surprised at this.

"She told me what happened between you two last night. While you do not get all the credit for teaching her how to not talk like she did, considering Twilight Sparkle on Nightmare Night, you do deserve some credit. I knew you two would hit it off, considering when Luna's not trying to sound formal, she's actually quite playful."

I remembered the hamburger incident from last night. Conveniently, the spot where I received two smacks to the head throbbed.

"Yeah, I noticed."

Princess Celestia chuckled.

"By the way, Princess, what am I supposed to do when I'm not learning how to use Pegasus magic? I mean, there's not much I can do here. I'll exhaust all the Su Doku puzzles in that book if I keep up what I'm doing."

Celestia blinked. Apparently, the tendency to blink when asked a question they weren't expecting, or didn't appreciate, ran in the family.

"Was that not clear? You have the freedom to go anywhere, so long as you are back in time for your lessons the following day. I told you we would be putting a few spells on you to monitor you, and that we did before we left Ponyville. You could probably even fly to Manehattan and back and still be back in time to get a good night's sleep."

I didn't know exactly where Manehattan was, but based on how it was close enough to fly there and back and have enough time for sleep, it couldn't be that far off.

By the end of lunch, Celestia was needed back in Canterlot Castle, which left me able to explore the rest of the town. There were quite a few interesting places to see. A massive library, which undoubtedly would have had me occupied for hours if I had gone in to read, a cathedral, a system of gem mines underground, which was accessible through a small hut outside the town a few yards, and my personal favorite, the Canterlot Clocktower. I only really liked it because it seemed so… well, it just seemed awesome. I don't know why, but it felt familiar, in a way.

Overall, the rest of the day passed shortly, almost like yesterday. Though this time I wasn't doing number puzzles or the like. However, I did feel like taking a trip to the library, just to see how many books there would be.

Colt, if I had known what I was getting into, I probably would not have done this.

There must have been tens of thousands of books here! _Hundreds _of thousands, even! There were literally enough books to fill up every building in Ponyville, and then some! Why on Equestria would Twilight Sparkle have left this place willingly!

Naturally, I felt compelled to read, so I looked for a book that caught my fancy, then walked over to a cushion on the floor and started reading.

It felt like hours that I was there, and it probably was. I just sat there, taking it all in, and I wasn't disturbed until I heard the Clocktower strike. I counted the bells, and they stopped on two.

Holy crap! Two in the morning! I was going to be losing sleep tonight, and as I discovered the morning after my first encounter with Tenebrae, no sleep makes me a very bitchy pony.

I noticed it was nearly pitch-black out. The sky was cloudy, and it was blocking the moon. Were it not for the artificial light created by the magic lamps set up around the streets of Canterlot, I would have been unable to see. I set off for the castle, flying fast, so as to get as much sleep as possible.

Unfortunately, Canterlot Castle had no such artificial light sources outside of the castle, and that, coupled with the fact that I have a black coat, made me nearly invisible. I suppose it wouldn't be too bad to be unseeable, but I doubt the Nightmares would appreciate it. They'd likely think I was somepony sent to attack the Princesses.

I landed quietly on that balcony I usually landed on, then tried to sneak in quietly, so as to not disturb anypony. Good thing the guards weren't nearby.

"Stop right there!" came a shout, followed by the clatter of hooves running in my direction.

Oh, buck you, No-Name and your big mouth.

Four Nightmares surrounded me, glaring at me suspiciously. It was then that I noticed they all had different little badges on their armor. Probably identifying marks that let others tell them apart from each other. The one who had spoken earlier had what looked like a snowflake on his chest.

"Now then, stranger, who are you, and what business do you have in Canterlot Castle at this late hour?" the same one who had spoken earlier said. His voice was rather loud, and it was deeper than Imbrium's had been, but overall, it was much less warm and pleasant.

"Well, I'm sure Luna told me-"

Bam!

Pain erupted in my jaw, right where Rainbow Dash had smashed me. It was official. I now can think of one pony I absolutely hate.

"You will address her as Princess Luna!" shouted the damn head of these guards as he glared down at me. It looked like he was enjoying this a little too much.

"Frigoris, was that a good idea?" asked one of the others, this one female. She had a calm voice, despire the fact that they had apparently arrested a would-be assassin in their eyes.

"Are you second-guessing me, Tranquillitatis?"

"No, Frigoris, but I'm pretty sure the Princess needs to be the one to interrogate him. She did command to see all the ones we arrested."

Frigoris rolled his eyes.

"Alright, fine. Let's take him to see the Princess."

I didn't feel like getting punched again, so I complied, but let it be known that my lack of sleep was starting to affect me. And not in a good way.

"So, Frigoris, was it?" I asked, making sure to get his name right.

"You will address me as Nightmare Frigoris, and by no other title," he said promptly.

"Yeah, Frigoris, why exactly are you guys patrolling the corridors at night? I thought the Nightmares guarded Lu- I mean, Princess Luna."

"She told us to make sure no one tried to attack one of the guests. She says it is of the utmost importance that if anypony were to attempt to attack him, she would interrogate him."

I face-hoofed.

"You dumbass! That's me! I'm the guest!"

"I don't believe that for a second. The guest confined himself to his room yesterday, and we think he may have done so today."

"Damn it, Frigoris! Don't you think that this guest might have gone off to town to explore, and gotten carried away at the library!"

We had reached the throne room, where Luna was currently sitting, bored from doing nothing. At the sight of us, her interest perked up.

"Nightmare Frigoris, what is the meaning of this?" she asked.

Thank Celestia for Luna. She was going to save my ass.

"Your highness, we found this mysterious pony attempting to enter the Guest Wing past curfew. We think he may have been sent here to attack your guest."

Tranquillitatis chose this moment to snark at Frigoris, which probably made everything worse for me.

"Well, Frigoris thought so. The rest of us just went along with it."

Luna rolled her eyes.

"Frigoris, in case you haven't noticed, this pony you've arrested is none other than the guest I asked you to guard. Tia told me he was staying out in town to explore, but I didn't think he'd be back this late. You may go, Frigoris."

Frigoris bowed.

"As you wish, Princess."

As he went, I felt compelled to take some payback, and I took a leaf out of Luna's book to do so.

Bam! Clopped him right to the back of the head.

He snarled at me on the way out, but I just smirked and nodded at him, somewhat tauntingly.

As soon as they were gone, Luna face-hoofed.

"I'm sorry about him. Frigoris has always been rather eager to dish out the punishment. It's a good thing you didn't catch him with Crisium. You probably wouldn't have been brought to me, and instead would have had to spend the night in the dungeons."

I rolled my eyes.

"No worries, Luna. He can't be too much worse than Tenebrae."

Luna nodded.

"No, I suppose not. I should have stopped him sooner though. I saw you coming from afar, but I didn't take the time to go let them know you were him. I figure I was counting too much on Cognitum to let him know, but, well, Cognitum has never really been the type to second-guess anypony."

"How'd you see me?" I asked, genuinely curious.

She motioned at my mane.

"That mane is so bright, it was like a flare, letting me know exactly wherest thou- excuse me, I still slip into that sometimes- where you were. I suppose it probably won't help when you're trying to sneak around, like you were tonight. And that, coupled with the fact that you can't sit still for more than three-"

She suddenly cut off, looking at me as though she was seeing me in a new light.

"Umm, Luna?" I asked, looking at her in confusion.

Luna blinked rapidly for a few moments, then looked down at the ground thoughtfully.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She laughed a little.

"I'm fine. The question is, are you alright, _Flare Dancer_?"

"Well, I'm- Wait. Who's Flare Dancer?"

Luna stuck her tongue out at me, smirking.

"I figured you'd be able to recognize a name when you heard it, particularly if it's your name."

"What are you talking abo-"

It was then that my tired state finally grasped what she had done. I had been given a name. And, for whatever reason, it fit.

"Ah, finally, the thick-headed stallion who can't move clouds finally understands that I've given him a name."

Luna smiled at me when it hit me. All I did was shrug my wings. It was better than No-Name.

"So, do you like it?" she asked curiously. Goodness, she really did want to know if I wanted to use that name.

I laughed.

"Luna, I love it."

Luna nodded, and motioned with her hoof for me to leave.

"Sleep well tonight, Flare Dancer. We have more cloud-moving to do tomorrow."

* * *

_Chapter 2 took me a little over a week and a half to write. I'm working on putting it all on Google Docs for a few Easter eggs that I can't include on here._

_The Nightmares were named all to be one huge astronomical joke, but I'm not explaining it here. I'm gonna have Flare Dancer call attention to it later._

_Also, starting with the next chapter, I will be including preview lines in the chapter beforehand (which will be taken entirely out of context so you can't guess anything about next chapter). But, of course, that means I have to find a way to incorporate them into the next chapter, so I guess the joke's on both of us._

**_Preview for Chapter 3: Harvest Festival_**

"_Rainbow Dash always dresses in style!" (Sorry, I had to. It was too good to pass up)_

"_I remember everything!"_

"_Now sit thine five-bit ass down before I maketh change!"  
"You totally took that line from Rainbow Dash."_

"_I love you, Luna."_

"_I can make this party 20% cooler in ten seconds flat!"  
"You just HAD to say that, didn't you Pinkie?"_

"_Well well well, it's been a while. Did you miss me, Flare Dancer?"_

"_Tenebrae!"_

_So, thanks to the five reviewers I got last chapter. Now, if it's not too much to ask, can I get a few more reviews?_


	3. Harvest Festival

_**A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 3: Harvest Festival**_

_Hello again, everypony! I trust you've been enjoying yourselves while I've been away writing?_

_My lil sis finished the picture, and it looks great, but I' trying to find a way to get it copied and made in Flash, like the show, you know? EqD accepts them if they're like that, but that's not to say they don't accept them in other ways. Idk, if it's made in flash, it just looks more like the ponies are, well, ponies from MLP._

_In any case, this chapter will be the first of many chapters to come that rely on music to help set the scene. What I like to do is listen to some music while I write out certain scenes, mainly to get the mood, and then I recommend the readers to listen to them. Just look up their titles on YouTube._

_That said, what I will do is have a marker like this: [A]. It will go where I want you to turn the music on, and because people read at different speeds, I recommend finding an extended version (it will be marked N-E if non-extendable), or finding a site with automatic playback so you don't have to keep going back and hitting play again. To stop the music, I typically do this: /[A]\ because if I do the slashes inside the brackets, it turns into HTML code. The letter corresponds to the order of music here, d'you see? The one(s) for this chapter are:_

_A. Final Fantasy V Advance " Harvest"  
B. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "The Seal Breaks" (N-E)_

_What I recommend doing is finding all the music on separate tabs, so when the time comes for you to stop the song, you can just close the tab rather than pause it, and you can start the next one on the next tab over when you get to it._

_Now then, legal disclaimer will not be mentioned again, because it was two chapters ago. I once had some parasprite come in and flame me for not having it every chapter (true story), so I've taken to posting notices that it was in the first chapter just to say "Well, did you read the disclaimer in this chapter?"_

_So, I present Chapter 3: Harvest Festival._

_Allons-y!_

* * *

I groaned so loudly, I'm pretty sure I may have infected Luna with my exasperation. I had done this twenty times today alone! Why did I need to do it more!

However, rather than looking exasperated, Luna looked, if anything, amused. That troll.

"You're getting it, little by little. You're almost there. You've made it happen, but you lack the finesse a true master would have, Flare. So, what I want you to do now is make it rain lightly, rather than heavily enough to drown everything," she said, glancing at the ruined flowers behind us.

I rolled my eyes.

"Finesse? What does finesse have to do with anything?"

Luna blinked, and that more than anything really made my gears grind. Not that it made me mad that she didn't enjoy the question, but the fact that now she was deliberately doing it to piss me off. And she knew I knew it. Well, two can play at that game.

I shifted a bit, then again, and again.

Her amused expression turned into an irritated one.

It was hard to stay angry at her, with such a cute irritation war going on between us. We were both laughing in moments.

"Why is it," she started to say, before she landed on the ground, "that the things we do really tick the other one off, but when we do it to deliberately tick them off, we both just laugh at it?"

"Because it's all in good fun, of course," I said immediately. She threw an appreciative smile my way.

We were walking back up to the castle now, our lesson over for the day. It had been a little over two months since I had started these lessons and gotten my name, and I had FINALLY figured out how to move clouds, and was now able to do it at an average speed, according to Luna. Now we were working on actual weather manipulation, like causing rain, which had taken me two weeks to learn how to do regularly, and now was taking me even more time to learn how to control whether it sprinkles or floods.

Me and Frigoris hadn't really improved our relationship any better since that first night. He was too stuck up to apologize, and I wasn't going to show him any respect until he deflated his overly large head and told me he was sorry that he was such a huge idiot. But these two months had let me meet the other Nightmares.

There was Serenitatis, who was usually calm and level-headed, despite what her idiot friends were doing around her; Humorum, with his joking nature; Cognitum, the smartest pony I have ever met, and who wasn't absolutely full of herself about it; Fecunditatis, the one who cared for all living things, particularly plants (and who we had to bribe to stay away while I was practicing the Rain Manipulation); Crisium, equally as violent as Frigoris, but she seemed to know when to bring it out, unlike her thick-headed male counterpart; Nectaris, a survival expert, who knew how to live off of the land with nothing but a small knife and a canteen; Vaporum, a bubbly, random girl who thrived on confusing everypony; Nubium, a quiet, normally soft-spoken pony, but everypony listened to her when she had something to say; and finally Insularum, a bit of a foil to Frigoris (he was usually the one who kept Frigoris level-headed, but he wasn't on the same group as him that night).

Speaking of the Royal Guardsponies, the Captain himself was coming to meet us. I had gotten ample time to sit and talk with Captain Squall (who was quite a badass for one so old, might I add. I had walked in on him sparring with several guards, and he whooped them all) about teaching me how to use Pegasus magic for combat. Whenever I did, he would just give me a slight smile and shake his head. The one time he ever really told me anything was the first time. I asked him, and he shook his head, but he also said, "Boy, Pegasus Magic in combat is nothing more than your imagination. Use your ingenuity to affect everything around you."

I was really hoping for something along the lines of "This is how you shoot lightning at ponies without having to use a cloud to do so."

Back to the topic at hand, Captain Squall was trotting out to meet the both of us as we walked along the path that led up to the Canterlot Castle Courtyard, accompanied by his usual group of guards. When we were about ten feet away, he stopped and bowed to Luna, and nodded his head in my direction.

"Princess Luna, your sister would like me to relate a message to you."

Luna looked at me in surprise, and curiosity.

"Okay, what message?" she asked.

Squall cleared his throat.

"She says that harvest season is upon the ponies of Ponyville, particularly at Sweet Apple Acres, and they are having an annual Harvest Festival in celebration. Princess Celestia asks that you attend in her stead. One, because she is sure it would greatly benefit you to travel there with Flare Dancer here. Two, because she would like to attend, but she cannot, and someone from the Royal Family typically attends. Shining Armor expressed interest in going, but I was forced to put my hoof down. He is needed here."

Luna looked at me while replying, "Well, I would love to visit the citizens of Ponyville again, since it will be the first time I will have seen most of them since the Nightmare Night Festival, but what about you, Flare?"

I nodded eagerly. I've wanted a day off for a while now. I've been going two months of Pegasus Magic training day after day, and as a result, my wings were now strong enough to keep me aloft for more than six hours at a time, not to mention I had gotten fast enough to give Luna a run for her money when we raced out to wherever it was we were going to practice for the day.

But she's an alicorn. She cheats with her magic.

"In that case, tell Tia that we will be delighted to attend. I'm sure Rainbow Dash would be eager to see Flare again," too true, as she had sent me five letters over the two months, but she kept addressing them to No-Name, "but tell her to leave out the detail that he has a name now."

Squall bowed again.

"Milady," he said as he turned about face and marched back up to the castle.

"A Harvest Festival?" I asked.

Luna gave that grin that she usually gave when she was about to troll me.

"Why, yes. It's a festival held in Harvest Season," she said, sounding uncannily like Cognitum. I suppose that is to be expected. She did make Cognitum, after all.

"Really, no shit," I said, glaring at her in mock irritation.

"Seriously though, it typically marks the beginning of the Apple Family's harvesting time, so they have a big party to celebrate. There's games, contests, a hoe-down, Pinkie Pie scaring everyone out of their minds when she lets off her Party Cannon," she listed off, failing to keep a straight face on the last one.

My mind went back to the time she had pulled a cannon from nowhere and was trying to use it on Tenebrae.

"Oh, so that was her Party Cannon? Rather unorthodox weapon, don't you think?"

Luna rolled her eyes.

"We are a peaceful society. What need do we have for weapons? Also, unicorns can cast magic lasers. Your argument is now invalid."

We made it into the castle. I had grown quite familiar with the place by now. My room was the furthest away from the main entrance, while Celestia's and Luna's were on opposite ends of the castle, with Celestia's being closer. The Throne Room was at the top of the highest tower (and not in any way cliché), and that bucktard Frigoris' room (which is currently booby-trapped to have the bathtub's tap not stop flowing, and that's not to mention the clogged drain) is located, conveniently, right down the hall from the Caretaker's closet. Thank Celestia for janitorial supplies.

"So, when exactly is this Harvest Festival?" I asked.

Luna dropped the trolling.

"As a matter of fact, I'm not sure. They typically announce it in Ponyville a week before the actual event, since harvest season changes each year-"

"It's tomorrow," came a voice from inside the door we were about to go through. It opened, and Princess Celestia stood there, followed by her usual entourage of four guards.

"And, where are you off to, Sister?" asked Luna.

Celestia conjured a small map.

"Well, Stalliongrad, Fillyattle, and Whinneapolis are all hosting their own Harvest Festivals, since the Pear, Kiwi, and Banana families have their own day to celebrate, and since I simply _must _attend," she sounded annoyed by this, "because all of the Fruit Families are competing against one another, except the Apple family, I've had to drop in on all of them every year. That's the reason I'm asking you two to go. Stalliongrad's a day's flight away, so I need to leave now in order to make good time. While we both are gone, Cadence should be taking care of normal affairs. I'll handle the sun and moon. You two get a whole day to yourselves. Use it wisely."

It may have just been me, but I coulda sworn I saw a little gleam in Celestia's eye when she said that. And once again, I am thankful for my black coat. I felt my cheeks heat up when I noticed that, and I am sure I was blushing.

However, Luna seemed not to notice.

"Will do. Pray tell, what will we wear?"

I stifled a laugh. Luna heard it and gave me an agitated glare.

"Flare's of the right mind on this. There's no reason to get all dressed up. It's a giant party, after all. I'm pretty sure Rarity will be trying to dress everyone up for it. Particularly Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Anyway, enjoy your day off. I have to leave now."

She cantered out to the Courtyards and took flight, followed by her guards.

"Goodbye, Princess!" I called after her as she left, and to my surprise and amusement, Luna had called a goodbye at the same time.

As Luna and I went toward her room, I noticed she seemed… off.

"What's up?" I asked.

She looked at me, then shook her head a little more vigorously than she usually did, her mane getting slightly messed up.

"It's nothing."

I rolled my eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Princess. Something's clearly bothering you. What is it?"

She huffed and looked at me with some apprehension in her eyes.

"The last time I was in Ponyville was for the Nightmare Night Festival. Forgive me, but I'm a little nervous about going back. What if the Canterlot voice comes out again?"

She just kept complaining, and complaining, and speculating until I finally reached a hoof out and stuck it right on her lips, silencing her. Her eyebrows shot up, and she gave me a surprised look.

"Princess," I said, looking her straight in the eyes, "just relax and be yourself. It'll come out alright."

She looked at me for a moment, then relaxed.

"You're right, Flare. Twilight Sparkle will help me out if anything goes amiss. And considering Rainbow Dash is going to be all over you, based on the sound of that last letter she sent, you won't have to worry about-"

There came a very loud yell from upstairs. Apparently Frigoris had turned the bathroom tap on.

Luna looked up, suspiciously. I, however, was not going to wait around until Frigoris came downstairs.

"Whelp, I can't stay Luna! I gotta get the buck out while I still have legs. Gottagobye!" I said, flying out as quickly as possible.

-X-

I managed to get off scot-free in the case of Frigoris' room. Well, I did receive another clop to the back of the head from Luna, but that was it, because she reluctantly agreed to cover for me by saying that the water has been screwing up all day, and proving it by showing Frigoris her tap.

In the meantime, I was busy cleaning myself up from the day's practice. I finished showering, put on a towel, and started heading back to my room, but as soon as I opened the door to the guest bedroom, I found myself face-to-face with Luna.

She looked me over for a moment, then commented dryly (no pun intended), "I thought you said getting cleaned up for this festival wasn't necessary."

I snorted.

"There's a difference between cleaning up and getting dressed up. Did you come down here just to catch the sight of me in a towel?" I added with a smirk, raising my eyebrows suggestively.

Her cheeks flared red (again, no pun intended), and she got all flustered.

"What- no! Flare- I- you- augh."

She face-hoofed. I, however, laughed. I thought her embarrassment was rather cute.

"You are incorrigible, you know that?" she said, glaring at me.

I smirked.

"I don't know the meaning of the word."

I really don't.

She rolled her eyes and gave me a playful push.

"When should we leave tomorrow? I know it begins at sunrise, and it is one of their more important celebrations, so punctuality is important."

"Well, what's wrong with leaving tonight and spending the night over there? That way we can wake up with as much sleep as possible."

She gave me one of her looks.

"You're still going to be very… uncooperative."

"Ah, I've got an idea. I'll ask Pony Joe for some coffee beans to make my own."

She suddenly raised her head, alert.

"You plus coffee, seeing as how you can't sit still for more than a few seconds? That's like giving Pinkie Pie sugar! Bad idea!"

I rolled my eyes.

"Trust me, Luna. It'll be better than what I'll be like tomorrow morning if I don't get any form of wake-up at all."

She looked at the ceiling thoughtfully.

"That is true, I suppose, but why go to Pony Joe? Why not ask Cordon Bleu? He has an excellent roast."

I rolled my eyes.

"Because he's absolutely ecstatic about that time where I showed him how to make an omelet for Princess Celestia. You saw how much your sister liked it, and now he's absolutely filled with joy and wants to thank me every time I see him. It gets annoying after a while. Now he wants me to show him how it is I made my breakfast burrito. I swear, if I keep this up, I'll have successfully converted your society from herbivore-based to carnivore-based. I'm sure that's something Fluttershy would not like."

"That doesn't mean you can't ask him for the coffee roast. Trust me on this. He's got some of the best coffee anywhere. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to share with you his recipe, considering you shared yours."

I sighed.

"Alright, fine. But I swear, Luna, if this is decaf, I will personally go to Rainbow Dash and ask her to teach me how to strike ponies with lightning. You will never have another peaceful moment again."

Luna left me in peace shortly after, and I went straight to my room, finished drying myself, and back to the kitchen, where I pulled the cord attached to a series of pulleys in the ceiling. If I pulled it, it would call one of the servants, but most likely Cordon Bleu because of where it was the pull was coming from.

I had a basic idea on how to make coffee, so I started pulling out what I knew went into coffee-brewing, such as a filter, and a spoon, as well as a measuring cup.

I didn't have to wait long. Cordon Bleu must have been close by.

"Ah, eet eez Flare Dahncer! Again, thank you zo much for letting me use ze omelet recipe for Preencess Ceylehsteea."

He was practically shaking my hoof out of socket. I pushed his hooves off and backed up.

"Yes, you're welcome Cordon Bleu. Please stop thanking me every chance you get. I get it. Now, there is another reason I called you. Can I get your help?"

"Anytheeng!" he said enthusiastically, smiling widely. He looked over at my supplies.

"Oho! You vould like me to teach you how to brew coffee, yes? Een zat case, you vill be vanting to use my seegnature brew's eestructions. Here. Use zeese beans."

He showed me how to grind the beans, to filter the water through the ground beans and the filter, how to make the ground not too coarse, and not too fine, and by the time it was over, a good fifteen minutes later, I had made quite possibly the best cup of coffee I had ever tasted. I wouldn't know about anything prior to my arrival in Equestria, so I'm not going to make it all-encompassing. I bid Cordon Bleu a farewell when the time came for him to go attend to the castle's lunch, and he cantered out, whistling at the chance to repay me for what I taught him.

By the time I was finished, Luna had sent Imbrium my way to let me know that she wanted to leave in a few minutes. I had nothing to pack, except coffee-making supplies, so I told him to go ahead and tell Luna that I would be out on the landing (yes, that's what that balcony is technically called) shortly.

When I was finished, since there was really nothing to pack to begin with, I grabbed the small bag of coffee beans, which came with a filter and a teaspoon that Cordon Bleu had given me, and cantered out to the landing, where Luna was waiting for me. Noticeably absent were the guards.

"So, the Nightmares won't be coming?" I asked.

"No, they won't. I don't think anyone will be attacking us in Ponyville of all places."

"You say that now…" I commented dryly.

With that, we took off, retracing the path I had flown only a couple of months before. It was a quick flight down the mountain, and then following the railroad to the town itself. By the time we reached Ponyville, it was nearly nighttime. I pointed out the Books and Branches Library from a distance, and we both started flying toward it.

As we drew closer to the library, Twilight Sparkle exited it with Spike, who was carrying a small list with him. Apparently, they were off to buy supplies for one thing or another. I hailed them as we got closer. She looked up, raised her eyebrows, then smiled and waved. We flew a shade faster, and when we got there, landed next to her.

"Hello, Twilight Sparkle!" I said.

"Hi No-Name! What brings you to Ponyville?"

"One, we're here for the Harvest Festival. Are you out buying stuff for it?"

She nodded. "Yep. I have to buy a few things that I forgot to get earlier."

"Ah. And two, I have a name now. My name is Flare Dancer."

Her eyebrows rose again.

"Wow. I like it. Who gave it to you?"

I nodded my head toward Luna.

Twilight let out a small snort, Luna went slightly pink, and I had no idea what was going on. Luna noticed my confusion and whispered, "I'll tell you later."

"Well, do you need a place to sleep? I can conjure up two beds for you, if you need them."

She suddenly grinned roguishly.

"Or one, if you feel like you don't need the other one."

Both Luna and I went wide-eyes, looked from Twilight to each other and back to Twilight and started stammering, embarrassed.

"Uhh, n- no that's-"

"Two will be-"

"We don't want-"

"He snores in his-"

"I do not!"

Cue simultaneous face-hoofs. And Twilight giggling in that obnoxious way that only she can.

"Suit yourselves," she said, grinning mischievously as she conjured up two beds in the middle of the room.

Someone tugged at my tail, and I lowered my head. Spike had a hand in front of his mouth and one of those surreptitious looks on his face.

"Just so you know, all the donuts in the box in the corner are mine. Don't you get any ideas about taking any-"

"Spiiiiike?" called Twilight from a few yards away.

Spike walked on over, but with two fingers, he pointed at his eyes and back to me, then back to his, then over to the box of donuts he had talked about.

I shook my head, half-chuckling at Spike's antics, half sighing exasperatedly at Twilight Sparkle and her… implications.

"I'm ready for b-" I started, but then failed to stifle a yawn, "bed," I finished.

"Me too. I want to take tonight to fully enjoy my night off," Luna said, cantering into the library.

"By sleeping? Aren't you normally awake the whole night? Which begs the question, how are you awake nearly all day too?" I asked, posing the question that had been bugging me for some time now.

Luna looked over at me as she climbed into her bed.

"I am normally nocturnal by nature, which is appropriate, given what I'm the princess of, but one of the privileges of being an alicorn is the ability to use certain magic, like temporal alteration."

"In common Ponyspeak, please."

"I can pause time for a while, while I catch up on sleep, and then restart it. Though, to be honest, stopping time is impossible, so I guess I just slow it down to a snail's pace. But I haven't had a proper sleep in a couple of days. My spell keeps getting negated while I sleep."

She lay down and promptly pulled the covers over her. I climbed into my bed, which was a couple of yards away, and lay down also.

We both lay awake, just talking (well, I read and talked at the same time), until Twilight and Spike came back. They had spent a couple of hours attempting to get everything.

And when Twilight Sparkle said she was getting only a few things, I think what she really meant was "I'm emptying the shelves of everything on the list." And Luna noticed too.

"Umm, Twilight? I thought you said you were only getting a few things that you had forgotten," she said, struggling not to burst out laughing as Spike attempted to pull an overly-full burlap sack full of supplies through the door. "Forgive me if I am ignorant, but a thousand years ago, the word 'few' implied small numbers."

Twilight looked a little flustered.

"But what if a few isn't enough? This way, I got as much as possible, and if something goes wrong, it doesn't happen because I was under-prepared."

I facehoofed.

"Twilight, there's a difference between being prepared for average circumstances and being under-prepared. I'm assuming Applejack gave you that list of things to bring, right?"

"Well... yeah. But she only prepared for about three hundred forty-six ponies last year, according to this number up here," she said, levitating the list up and indicating the tentative guest list. "I make three-forty-seven, and Spike makes three-forty-eight. And I suppose you, Flare make three-forty-nine. Applejack did not take into account three extra guests this year. Three extra guests means less of everything for everyone, and that means some ponies aren't as satisfied. If they aren't satisfied, some might go on a rampage and destroy Sweet Apple Acres because the quality wasn't as good as last year, or they might not show up the next year, meaning the Apple family gets fewer bits than they're used to, possibly resulting in a budget deficit, causing them to go in debt. And in either case, if the Apple Family has to leave Ponyville, Ponyville's economy goes under."

I was fighting very hard to keep a straight face at Twilight's troll logic. Knowing her, she actually thought this was a legitimate possibility. Luna, however, was laughing from where she was laying down.

"Twilight, really dear, it'll be alright the way it is. Well, considering now you have enough supplies to account for the cities of Canterlot, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale combined, I suppose it really will be alright."

With a crash, Spike managed to get the over-full sack through the door (and through the walls on either side, if you catch my drift). The sack was shut, and nothing spilled, so Spike let out a tired sigh and went right to his bed and plopped right down.

Twilight magicked the lights to a lower setting, summoned a book from the shelves, and started to read in her bed. I simply stayed up chatting with Luna for a few more minutes, occasionally including Twilight in the conversations when she felt like looking up from her Daring Do book.

After the lights were out, all three of the others fell asleep quickly (and I had forgotten just how irritating Spike's snoring was), but I lay awake, staring outside, wishing it were so easy to fall asleep. I knew I had an early morning ahead of me, and I don't think my bitchiness would go over well with Luna or Twilight Sparkle.

I saw a streak of light cross the sky, and realized I had seen a small shooting star. It seemed childish, but I supposed I could make a wish upon it. But what to wish for?

I decided against it, and turned over, facing the inside of the library. Owloysius turned his head my direction for a moment, then back outside. I felt sleep start to finally come, and I felt grateful for it.

The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes was Luna sleeping, a peaceful expression on her face.

-X-

BAM!

"ARGH!"

I woke up on the floor of the library, tangled in the sheets, and experiencing a migraine of epic proportions.

Twilight and Spike were already moving around, but Luna had been sleeping soundly. Until now, that is.

"_**WHO DARES WAKE THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!" **_she thundered, eyes opening blearily, stumbling out of her bed, and promptly tripping and falling onto the ground next to me.

Twilight and Spike were laughing, I was clutching at my head, and Luna was looking around frantically, her horn glowing blue with her magic.

"Peace, princess," said Twilight, still trying to stifle a laugh.

Luna looked around wildly, then started to understand the situation and lowered her voice rather dramatically.

"Ugh. Did it really have to be THIS early? Couldn't you have let me sleep another five minutes?" she asked, rubbing her eyes with her hooves.

"Actually, that was me, Luna," I said, apologetically. "Woke up with a migraine. And a very painful one, at that."

Luna fell back onto the ground, sighing heavily.

"Twilight Sparkle, what time is it?" she asked.

"It's about 5:30 in the morning. I was just about to wake the both of you when Flare Dancer fell out of his bed, clutching his head and complaining at the top of his lungs of a headache."

Luna gave me one of her looks of annoyance. I smiled nervously and got to my feet.

"Where's my bag?" I asked.

Twilight gestured over to a nearby table, which Owloysius was perched next to, and I made a break for it, eagerly grabbing it and starting to take out the contents.

It took a few minutes, but I finally got the cup made, and I eagerly drank it… and scalded my tongue.

"ARGH! DAMN IT BUCKING-"

"Hey!" shouted Luna and I stopped, still having no feeling in my tongue. Great, just great. Way to start the morning.

I let it cool down for a few minutes, then took another drink. Better, and I eagerly gulped it all down, feeling clarity start to come, and my general bitchiness wash away, but it was a very slow process.

"Better?" asked Luna, arching an eyebrow at me.

"Much better," I said sarcastically. "Did you really think it would be immediate? It's gonna be a while before I'm my usual self."

Luna, however, rolled her eyes.

"Right, because you totally aren't like this normally."

I had no comeback. She did have a point. In the meantime, though, Twilight was packing everything for the festival in her saddlebags, and getting ready to leave.

"When you two are ready, we're out at Sweet Apple Acres. Princess Luna, I think it starts at sunrise, and you need to be there at least a few minutes early. Enjoy the Festival!" Twilight called as she started cantering to Sweet Apple Acres with Spike on her back, half-asleep. The door shut behind them after they had gone a few meters.

"You want to give it a few minutes, or leave now?" I asked.

Luna shrugged her wings.

"I'm open for any time. Tia always raises the sun at around 6:30 every morning, so we have a good hour before I'm supposed to be there."

"You mean before _we_'re supposed to be there. I'm going with, remember?" I asked, nudging her.

"Oh, right, because you're obviously Equestria royalty," she remarked.

I blinked. That was rather unexpected.

"How much have I been rubbing off on you? I've never heard you use two instances of sarcasm in the same day before, much less the same five minutes."

She grinned.

"Does it surprise you? I mean, you're the only pony I've been chatting with regularly. It was bound to happen sometime. I guess you've grown on me," she said.

I felt my cheeks heat up slightly, but I shook it off and smiled warmly at her.

"Well then, Princess Luna, that makest me compelled to ask thee for a dance at the Harvest Festival," I said, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "How was that, for a 'ye olde Equestrian' speech pattern?"

She laughed.

"Not bad, not bad at all, but there's room for improvement. You want a dance, eh? I'll hold you to that. I suppose we'll just have to wait for the right song, won't we?"

I cantered over to the door and opened it.

"I take it you're ready to go?" I asked, holding out my arm.

She nodded, cantered over, and looped her arm through mine.

We set off for the Sweet Apple Acres at a pleasantly slow pace, which was nice for me. I didn't know it would be so awkward to walk on three hooves. It seemed that every few steps, I would stumble, and she would be the only reason I didn't fall flat on my face. She would chuckle every so often, so whatever dignity I saved by not falling would instantly be drained.

It took a few minutes, but we got there in good time. It was only around 6:00, and hardly anyone was there yet. The Apple Family had hired an ensemble of musicians who were currently setting up and practicing. They included a pale green unicorn (whom I had met before, named Lyra) with a harp-like instrument (Luna called it a lyre when I posed the question to her), a deep green Pegasus with a set of bagpipes, a brown earth pony with a small set of drums, and a grey Pegasus with a trumpet. At the forefront of them, with a music stand, was a grey earth pony with a long black mane.

Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were currently erecting a banner, the words of which I couldn't see. When it had been raised and supported, Applejack wiped her brow and gave me a cheerful wave. I waved back, grinning eagerly. She cantered on over to the both of us.

"Well howdy, Princess! An' howdy to you too, No-Name!" she said as she got within a reasonable distance.

"Hello, Applejack," said Luna, and at once I noticed something wrong. She sounded stiff, which meant she was slipping back into formal-speech. That meant it was only a matter of time before the RCV broke out again.

I nudged her and whispered into her ear, "Loosen up." She looked at me with irritation and blinked. I rolled my eyes.

"Princess, yer seat's over by the banner," Applejack said, pointing at a roped-off area. "So whah couldn't Princess Celestia make it t'day?"

"My sister journeyed to Stalliongrad, Whinneapolis, and Fillyattle to placate your kinsponies of the Pear, Kiwi and Banana families. She sends her sincerest apologies, and instead, she asked me and Flare Dancer if we could take her place."

Oh dear, now she was being archaic, just without the Majestic Plural and "Thees, thous, and thines."

I motioned to Luna to follow me as I headed to her reserved spot, which was being modified to fit two ponies. She looked at me quizzically, but she did as I asked.

"You're getting formal again. Loosen up. Be who you are around me and everything will be fine," I whispered into her ear.

"Were it so easy," she growled back. Her sudden hostility caught me by surprise.

"Are you actually scared?" I asked back, smiling in spite of myself. "You're seriously acting like you're scared of all these ponies. And why, exactly?"

"I'm not scared!"

She decided to say that one out loud. Great, now everyone's looking at us…

I clopped her to the back of the head (though I refrained from doing it as hard as she did to me that one night).

"Let's just go sit down. What time is it?" she asked, eyes narrowed in a resigned fashion.

"We have a while," I said, yawning and shifting where I stood, eager to be moving around, rather than being fenced off just for a five-minute ceremony.

"Where are Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy?" I asked.

Luna gave a smirk.

"Knowing Rarity, she's probably trying to get them all dressed up for a casual event. However, Rainbow Dash always dresses in style, even if the event in question doesn't call for any clothing. Rarity always overreacts to these sorts of events, from what I understand."

The thirty minutes went by surprisingly quickly. I got to meet my old friends from a couple of months ago, when Tenebrae and I had our first round of fighting. I was beginning to wonder if there would ever be a round two, to be honest.

While in the middle of talking with Lyra and Bon-Bon, whom I had met once when going for a walk (they were sitting on a bench and bickering and I got in on it after a while of listening), there came a strange noise, which got progressively louder, and a flashing blue light from about 50 meters away. Nopony really paid it too much mind except me. When I looked over, a blue box with the words "Pony Call" across the top of it was appearing out of nowhere.

Seeing my interest in the object, Luna gave a small laugh.

"That's Doctor Whooves and his TARDIS. He uses it to go from place to place, and time to time to fix problems that are occurring, but he always comes back here for some R&R."

"Wait, does that mean he can take me back to wherever it is I'm from?" I asked, curiosity now perked.

"Highly unlikely. Besides, you've got no memory of your former life. How would you know where exactly to go to?"

My momentary happiness was gone. Damn, so close to being able to get home, wherever home was.

"Yeah, I suppose that would be a problem."

Out of the TARDIS came a brown earth pony with a somewhat spiky darker brown mane, with a white collar and greenish tie, and an hourglass cutie mark. He looked around, waved at a few ponies who had smiled and waved at him, then motioned toward the box itself, and out of it came none other than Derpy Hooves.

She eagerly flew herself over to Lyra and Bon-Bon, collapsing on the ground when she landed. I would have watched the entire thing play out, but Luna tapped me on my shoulder.

"It's about time to go. We need to be in our spot," she said, starting to canter on over back to our reserved section.

"Alright, settle down, all y'all!" called Applejack, standing over by the tree closest to the crowd of ponies watching.

It took a minute or so before the entire crowd settled down (mostly due to Lyra, who had continued talking until Bon-Bon elbowed her). When they quieted, Applejack motioned toward a large red earth pony and a small pale-yellow filly with a red bow in her mane, and they cantered on up. Well, the earth pony cantered up. The filly ran eagerly up to Applejack, smiling broadly.

"Granny Smith couldn't make it t'day," AJ explained to the crowd. "She's over in Appleloosa, helpin' with the relatives and their own Harvest Festival. Now then, Ah reckon it's time to git on with the show, eh Bic Mac?"

The large red earth pony nodded his head and said, "Eeyup."

"Well then, we figured since we've been doing the first tree-buckin' all these years, it's high-time fer little Applebloom here to give it her best shot," said AJ, smiling down at the little filly.

Applebloom's jaw dropped when she heard that. "Aww, sis, you really mean it?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"Sure do! Come on over, sugarcube."

I leaned over to Luna, who was watching the little ceremony with a small smile on her face.

"I swear, I'm gonna die from overexposure to 'D'awww' if this keeps up."

She giggled a little but otherwise continued watching.

Applebloom walked up to the tree, turned around, and gave the tree a really hard buck. The leaves shook a little, but overall nothing happened. However, Applebloom didn't look down. On the contrary, she bucked even harder, and this time, a single apple fell out of the tree, which Applejack caught.

She gave it to Applebloom and whispered something in her ear. Applebloom galloped on over with the apple in one of her front hooves (I swear, how can everypony but me walk normally with three hooves?) and gave it to Princess Luna.

"Here ya go, Princess Luna! The first apple of Applebuck season!" she said, offering her the apple.

Luna used magic to bring it to her, and she took a bite out of it, then promptly ate the rest of it rather quickly.

Applejack then waved her Stetson in the air.

"Now that the ceremony's all over, we can start with the partyin'!"

The crowd let out a collective cheer, and immediately, the musicians started playing.

[A]

Applejack and Big Macintosh set to work, bucking trees to gather apples for the celebration that had now started to kick into full gear.

Luna, rather than join in the festivities, led me over to where Twilight Sparkle and her friends were. It seemed the other four had shown up while we were occupied with everypony else. However, acting very blatantly differently than when we had first met, Pinkie Pie looked rather down about something. I mean, she was still bouncing around as usual, but her energy wasn't the same. The others noticed it too.

"Pinkie, what's up?" I asked, cantering over.

Pinkie Pie stopped and looked at me with very large, very forlorn eyes.

"This isn't a party! Where's the streamers! Where's the balloons? WHERE'S THE CAKE?" she let out as she started flailing in mid-air before landing as if nothing had just happened.

Also, I swear I saw her eye twitch.

"Pinkie, this isn't one of your parties. This's Apple fam'ly terdition. We can have ourselves a nahce one of your parties some other tahme, but we really cayn't be havin' unbridled insanity, sugarcube," explained Applejack, sounding apologetic, but making it perfectly clear that Pinkie was not to do anything to the party.

"Insanity schminsanity! I can make this party 20% cooler in ten seconds flat!" she shouted, now lost in the possibilities, a dreamy expression coming across her face.

Rainbow Dash, however, face-hoofed. Up until now, she had been lazily flying in the sky on her back, front hooves behind her head in trademark relaxing pose, and both eyes shut.

"You just HAD to say that, didn't you Pinkie?" she said, clearly exasperated by this. However, she shook it off and went back to flying.

Luna cleared her throat.

"So, Tia tells me something's been happening in Ponyville since my last visit," she said, in one of those voices that said, "I know something's up, so you may as well tell me."

Twilight Sparkle opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, looking at me.

"Flare, Princess Celestia told me not to let you in on this yet."

I blinked, annoyed.

"Whyever not?" I asked, trying to keep my voice casual. I know I failed, and Luna noticed. She elbowed me in the flank.

"My sister wants to do a little more research on this matter. We think it may be the key to being able to get you back home. And we do not want a certain demigod to be aware of this. We know he's keeping an eye on you," Luna said. She looked stern, but her expression softened when mine didn't. "I'm sorry, Flare, but you're going to have to go occupy yourself elsewhere while I hear this out. If it makes you feel better, how about that dance you promised me?"

I still don't like being kept out of the loop. But that dance sounds like a good incentive. I nodded, smiled, and cantered off to talk to some of the other ponies.

First on the list: Doctor Whooves. Wonder if he can enlighten me on what a human is.

Well, looks like I have to get in line. Lyra's already jabbering away on what sounds like the same subject. Wait a minute, if Lyra's over here, and she's supposed to be playing...

I looked over to where the musicians were to find the lyre in question levitating and playing normally, albeit surrounded by pale green magic. I looked back to Lyra and saw her horn glowing with that magic. Okay, that works, I suppose.

I cantered on over to them, intent on listening to OH MY HEAD!

I felt myself hit the ground as I fell, clutching at my head. I think I may have yelled out at least once, because this was definitely the single worst headache I'd experienced since I got here. All I know is that as soon as it went away, I was in the dirt, twitching madly while my eyes adjusted to the strangely distorted look of everything.

Once my vision returned to normal, I saw three ponies around me, looking down. One I recognized as Luna, who it appeared had charged over when she saw what was going down, based on her lack of breath. The second was Doctor Whooves, and the third was Derpy.

"Are you alright Flare?" asked Luna, concerned.

My breath was coming in ragged gasps, but I nodded. What was up today? First the one this morning, then the one just now. I guess that lack of sleep really did affect me. I slowly got to my hooves, stumbling a bit on the way, and still trying to get my eyes to adjust.

"What was that?" asked Doctor Whooves. His accent was different from the normal Ponyville dialect. It sounded like he came from Trottingham. I'd met a few ponies in Canterlot who had come from there, and their accents sounded alike.

"I would have thought a Doctor could figure this out," I said. "That was a pretty painful headache."

"Well, I'm only trying to help!" said the Doctor, rather indignantly. It was then that I realized I had just given a rather sharp remark to the Doctor.

"Sorry 'bout that," I said, my eyes finally coming back into normal focus.

"Apology accepted. Here, let me have a look. I do have a doctorate," he said, looking me straight in the eyes. "Have these kinds of headaches happened before?"

I nodded.

"Once before, actually. I had a case of three short headaches all in a row when I first got here a couple of months ago. No need to question me about that one. I remember everything."

Doctor Whooves looked confused.

"Wait, when you first got here two months- Oh! Oh, I understand now. You're that pony who appeared here a couple of months ago. Should have guessed, you don't look like any pony I've ever seen."

"Yeah, well, Tenebrae said I was a human he brought here to serve his purpose. You wouldn't happen to know what a human is, or looks like, would you?"

Doctor Whooves' eyes widened.

"Would I? I used to be homo sapien in appearance myself, before I became an Earth Pony. But I'm afraid my brand of human isn't the same as yours, and I am no expert on human to pony transmogrification, so any discrepancies that come with your transformation I won't be able to do anything about."

"Umm, Doctor?" asked Derpy.

"Yes, miss Hooves?" he asked, still looking me over.

"Is he gonna be alright?"

Doctor Whooves looked me over a tad longer before replying, "Yes, I think so. Just a simple migraine, albeit a rather spontaneous one."

He walked off with a rather cheery wave back at me as he and Derpy wandered off toward a long string of tables, where already different foods were popping up. I grimaced. No meat, but I knew it was to be expected.

It still annoyed me, though. I'm a growing Pegasus. I needs me some protein.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Luna asked, sounding unconvinced. She looked as though a matter of national security was going down. Apparently, a migraine striking me is that serious.

"It's gone now. Don't you have important business to discuss with Twilight?" I asked.

"We've decided to postpone our discussion until such a time as we can get a more… private… location to speak. And we're not about to pull Applejack away from her family and their biggest party of the year," she said matter-of-factly.

"Mmh," I grunted.

"In the meantime, it doesn't look like the ensemble over there is planning on playing anything other than this tune that sounds like it comes from Horse-And-Pony."

Now's when I notice they hadn't stopped playing even though I'd had a freak out moment not a minute ago.

"Where's that?" I asked, curious. Strange name for a town, if you ask me.

"It's up by Trottingham. Their main source of income is the massive potato business over there. And before you ask, no, there is no such thing as the Potato family," she added, for I had opened my mouth to make my usual smart-ass remark.

My stomach growled, and at once, Luna started to drag me over to the table. Now more than any other time am I aware that I have officially rubbed off on her over the last two months. Damn, what does the future have in store for me if she's going to be like this?

"But I don't like food that's not meat!" I whined as her absolutely cheap and unfair unicorn magic literally dragged me by the tail toward the food table, plopped me down, and picked up an Apple Tart, which Applebloom had just set on a stand, with magic. I, however, tried to get up and leave.

"Flare, where do you-," more of me getting dragged back by magic, "-think you're going?"

"I don't like fruit. Can I please go wander around?"

"No, now sit thine five-bit ass down before I maketh change," she said, a devilish grin slowly working onto her face.

Damn her and her archaic speech.

I face-hoofed and said, "You totally took that line from Rainbow Dash."

She, however, stuck her tongue out at me and said, in the most trollishly evil tone of voice possible, "So?"

She magicked my mouth open, despite my protestations, and proceeded to put the Apple Tart in. I'll be honest, it wasn't bad at all, but I still didn't really like the texture, and I sure as hell wasn't going to give her the satisfaction, so I took it out.

"Flare! Stop acting like an immature little colt! Act your age!" she said, obviously exasperated, though she couldn't help but grin.

"Yes mom," I said with a malevolent grin right back at her.

However, of all the times ever to interrupt, Twilight Sparkle picked this one to.

"So, when's the wedding?" she asked from right behind me.

I blinked several times, and Luna face-hoofed.

"Twilight Sparkle, what has gotten into you as of late?" asked Luna.

"Yeah, seriously," I concurred, turning to see her with a big ol' smile on her face. "You used to be really studious and I'd be very surprised to hear this brand of comments come out of you even once, judging by those three days I stayed at the Books and Branches. Rainbow Dash hasn't been rubbing off on you, has she?"

"I haven't been rubbing off on who?" came the voice of RBD herself, as she flew on down.

"Oh, hello Rainbow Dash," said Luna, winking at me while I resisted the urge to head-table. "Flare was just saying, he thinks you're rubbing off on Twilight Sparkle."

I turned my head and looked up to see RBD in her signature Lazy-Pose (trademark), hovering above Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Unsurprisingly, Applejack was still working Apple sales.

"I'm totally okay with that," said RBD. "I mean, that would totally make her-"

"Don't you dare say it would make her 20% cooler. She's cool enough as is," I said, feeling rather defensive of my favorite pony of the lot.

"Umm… Princess Luna?" asked Fluttershy in so soft a voice, I almost didn't hear.

"Yes, Fluttershy?" Luna asked.

Well, I decided not to participate in the conversation. I took the opportunity while Luna was occupied to get away from the table under the pretext of going to grab a drink from the drink table. In truth, I once again had the itch that something was wrong. I couldn't really place my hoof quite on what, but it really reminded me of the last time the Large Ham of Darkness had deigned an appearance.

Luna gave me a quizzical look as I cantered off, looking around just to take in the sights.

_**Flare Dancer! Listen to me!**_

I looked around, alert and looking for the voice I had just heard. It sounded vaguely familiar, but-

_**It is I, Lux! Listen to me! Tenebrae is on his way there now! You must alert the Princess of the Night and get every citizen of Ponyville to safety!**_

Wait, Lux? Yes! I remember her! She was the one who told me to go to Canterlot.

_**Indeed I am. However now is not the time to chat inside your head! We've got to get every pony here to safety! Tenebrae's not looking to be as… lenient… as he was last time. The headaches you're experiencing are not normal. They are actually alerting you to the fact that Tenebrae is breaking through the walls keeping him out.**_

Wait, then why can only I feel them?

_**Because, as I said before, you are a living door to this world, and now you are out of reach of Princess Celestia, the Nightmares, and the Solar Guard. The Time to strike has never been more appropriate. I'm doing what I can to hold the walls together, but I cannot hold him for long. You must alert Princess Luna and have her get everyone to safety!**_

Roger that. But, I mean, are you sure? It seems like it wouldn't be a good idea to get everypony here all riled up for something they can't see, only for them to find out that nothing happened.

_**Flare Dancer, this is more important than this festival of yours. While Tenebrae cannot directly harm the ponies at this current time, he can destroy the town itself, and indirectly, the carnage could put the lives of everyone here at risk. You must get them to safety!**_

Fine, I'm on it.

I flew up and started searching as fast as I could for Luna. Thank Celestia she's taller than everypony else.

I saw her cantering with a small group of citizens of Ponyville, chatting amicably with them, and I dashed on down toward her.

She saw me coming before I landed, but I didn't wait that long to shout "Tenebrae's on his way here now!"

I landed, causing a cloud of dirt to spring up around me, which in turn caused everypony to start coughing until it cleared up.

"I said," I started, before succumbing to another fit of coughing. "Tene- *cough* Tenebrae's on his way here now. You have to get everypony to safety before he arrives!"

She blinked, looking confused. The other ponies around us were thoroughly nonplussed, looking at each other.

"Wh- what do you mean Tenebrae's coming?"

"He's breaking through whatever walls are holding him out. That's why I've been having the headaches. I'm a living door to the world, right? I'm going to be affected by anything that happens to the barriers around this world- AARRGGHH!"

Cue massive migraine. I fell down, clutching and yelling again. I was aware of one of the nurses appearing and running up.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked in a slightly concerned voice.

"I'll tell you what!" came a voice I had never been more glad to hear as Doctor Whooves ran on up to us. I slowly recovered and stood up.

"There's some form of extra-Equestrian reading coming from the TARDIS, and whatever it is, it's giving off huge amounts! Princess, you need to see this!"

Luna looked back at me, and I tried to tell her with my eyes, "Please believe me! They have to get out."

She looked into them for a moment, then raised her head high and nodded, proceeding to gallop back toward the festival. She jumped onto a nearby table, scattering the food every which way. She was already drawing more than a few eyes by this behavior.

"_**CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! YOU ALL ARE IN DANGER AND NEED TO EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!"**_

/[A]\

She got everypony's attention with the RCV, and while some looked convinced, others however, did not.

"_**ALL OF YOU NEED TO HEAD AT ONCE TO THE EVERFREE FOREST AND TAKE SHELTER UNTIL WHAT IT IS THAT IS CAUSING THIS PROBLEM HAS PASSED!"**_

Some ponies immediately started going to the forest, others looked half-hearted about it, and still some looked entirely unconvinced. It wasn't mass panic, and I'm very glad it wasn't. It would have been much harder to direct everyone to the forest if it was.

Twilight Sparkle and her companions ran up to Luna, who immediately looked relieved to see them.

"Twilight Sparkle, I need you and your friends to direct everyone there safely. Tenebraae's decided to make a return appearance, and I have to stay to help fight him off if his intentions are less than honorable."

Rainbow Dash looked in her element.

"Aww yeah! I've been waitin' for a chance to go hoof-to-hoof with him!" she crowed, landing and assuming a classic Kung-Fu pose from one of her many action movies that she had forced me to watch.

"No, Rainbow Dash. This… entity, is far too powerful for you to face. It must be me and my sister. Where's Spike?" she asked, urgently.

Twilight Sparkle's horn glowed, and Spike was teleported in front of her, right in the middle of talking.

"And that's what happened when I turned into a grown-up dragon for- whoa!" he said as he finally got a good look around. "Geez Twi, why'd you have to teleport me when I was in the middle-"

Luna, however, decided to interrupt him also.

"Spike, I need your help on a matter that is of the utmost importance!" she said sharply, causing him to immediately look up at her.

"Uhh, yeah Princess?"

"I need you to write a letter to my sister explaining that she needs to get over to Ponyville immediately. She'll be in Whinneapolis, Fillyattle, or Stalliongrad, or somewhere in-between. Hurry! Time is of the essence!"

He nodded and said, "Mm-hmm!"

Luna nodded at him, then looked up to address everypony else.

"Thank you Spike. You all know what you're doing, now get it done. We don't have much time left."

They all galloped off. I watched them go as everypony that had previously stayed now decided to go along with it for now, and started to canter off after the group that was making their way to the Everfree Forest. I wiped my brow, satisfied that I had successfully gotten everypony moving.

"I love you, Luna," I said out of relief, "I mean, how would I get all these ponies to move without you?"

She went slightly pink when I had said that, and she looked down at me warmly.

"Save the joking for later. We have bigger problems on our hooves," she said, returning her attention to the quickly-fleeing crowd. For that one moment, everything seemed as though it would turn out alright. Everyone was fleeing to safety, and one of the alicorns was ready to defend the town.

It was short-lived.

[B]

Little wisps of darkness started to appear in the air, and they all began to draw in toward a spot in the air. The shape they coalesced into, however, did not look like it had the first day I was here.

It looked as though a pony had been stood straight up on its two hind legs, with its front hooves hanging straight down at the sides. Five digits were arranged on the ends of his arms, and overall, he looked like he was a bipedal creature this time around. When the cloud of darkness vanished, Tenebrae stood tall and haughty, looking directly at me with his red eyes.

His skin was very pale and fair, with hollow cheeks, and a rather hooked nose. He was wearing what looked like a black cloak, with intricate silver trim, but there appeared to be no changes in fabric. It was as if the entire garment was one.

He shook his head, causing his long and somewhat spiky hair, which was black with silver ends, much like his mane had been, to flail wildly for a moment before settling down.

The ponies who hadn't been moving very fast earlier were now positively booking it. Funnily enough, despite everypony's apparent panic, I noticed Lyra looking rather fascinated at Tenebrae's new look, but Bon-Bon quickly clopped her on the shoulder and got her running with the rest of the group. I suppose that must be a human shape, then.

Luna's horn glowed with magic as she prepared to fire her Magic Lasers of Death at the Demigod.

"Tenebrae!" she shouted.

Tenebrae's red eyes travelled to her briefly, but he returned his attention to me.

"Well well well, it's been a while. Did you miss me, Flare Dancer?" he asked, saying my name in the most mocking tone he could summon up. "What a pitiful name. I expected something better, Luna. I suppose next time you find an amnesiac pony on your hands, you'll have to do better."

Luna shot a magic beam at him, but Tenebrae simply batted it aside with his right hoof-substitute-thing, causing it to hit a nearby tree, setting it aflame, which soon spread to nearby trees, and was rapidly heading for the Sweet Apple Acres grove.

"Might want to attend to that, Princess. We don't want Sweet Apple Acres burning to the ground, now, do we?" he asked rather sardonically.

Luna looked directly at me.

"Buy time for Tia to get here. I don't think you'll be able to do very much damage to him, so try to steer clear of him. I'll help you as soon as I can put this fire out. We can't lose it."

I nodded, and she flew off, heading right for the advancing flames.

Tenebrae watched her go, looking amused.

"How in my name does she think she and her sister can hold me off?" he asked as he returned his attention to me. "Well now, I'll be honest. I've been watching you ever since you made it to Canterlot. I'm rather disappointed in your progress. You're two months in and you've only just now made it rain? I expected lightning a month ago."

"Shut up! Or are you all talk?" I shouted at him.

Tenebrae smiled cruelly.

"No, I'm not, but by the time I'm done with you, you're going to be wishing I was."

* * *

_Aaaand… scene._

_Well, I had a couple more reviews, but overall, nothing too major to reply to (mainly because I replied via private message). Mainly things like "Good story, keep writing pl0x," out of all four Ch. 2 reviews._

_I'll be honest, I was having lots of trouble writing as the Mane 6, so I did what I could, but I had Flare conveniently find a way to get away from them. I'll try to fix that later._

_Also, I actually DO know what "incorrigible" means. It's when something is so bad it can't possibly get any worse. It's all one big Scott Pilgrim joke. Todd Ingram uses the excuse "I'm a rock star" to basically say "I can do whatever I want," to which his girlfriend Envy replies "You are incorrigible, you know that?" to which he naturally replies "I don't know the meaning of the word. Cue side-note that says "He really doesn't."_

_Next chapter is little more than an excuse for me to whale on my own OC Protagonist. And I'll be honest, based on what I've already written up, it's proving very entertaining for me. I dunno. I guess I'm like J.K. Rowling. Her favorite character to write was Snape because he always got to insult Harry._

_Preview for Chapter 4: The God Behind The Mare Within The Moon_

"_You really thought that would work?"_

"_Brother! Stand down!"  
"And are you going to stop me, Lux?"_

"_Flare! Look out!"_

"_How long ago was it that we first met, Luna? A thousand years or so, right?"  
"That was YOU!"  
"Yep! That was me."_

"_You must come to the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters at once!"_

"_Man, I wish the Nightmares were here."  
""Even Frigoris?"  
"Especially Frigoris."_

"_Such a lovely day it was. Too bad I had to spoil it for the rest of you."_

_Rytex, signing off for now. Have a good day!_

_Also, one final thing for you all. English to Binary translators are so useful, eh?_

_0110100001110100011101000  
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	4. The God Behind The Mare Within The Moon

_**A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 4: The God Behind The Mare Within The Moon**_

_Didja miss me, everypony? I'm BAAAAAAAACK!_

_Again, do try to find looping or extended tracks for the music I have selected for each chapter. The music for this chapter will consist of:_

_A. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "The Imprisoned"  
B. Final Fantasy XIII "Blinded By Light (Long Version)"_

_However, I'll be honest, I couldn't find an extended version of music A. There's one for the drums and cymbals, but that's not the one I'm after._

_In any case, enjoy the chapter._

* * *

[A]

Tenebrae and I stood there for a moment. I was waiting on him to make the first move. I figured all I really had to do was dodge like hell until Luna got back from putting out the fires.

Tenebrae smirked and- WHAT THE HELL! He just vanished into thin air! That's just cheating!

Well, what did I expect? A fair fight from Darkness Embodied?

His mocking laughter rang out from all around me.

"So, here's what I'm going to do. First, I'm going to thrash you within an inch of your life. Then, I'm going to gloat, taunt, and generally take the mickey out of you. Finally, I'm going to brainwash your weakened state into doing exactly as I have brought you here for."

I whirled around, every which way, trying to find him, but I couldn't see anypony.

I know it'll probably result in the destruction of it, but I think the only thing I can really do to save myself here is to take shelter in Ponyville. Buck, this is not going to end well.

I took off and started flying low to the ground, all the way back to Ponyville.

"Heheheheh, you can run, but you can't hide."

I saw the small entry to the town, and I flew towards it as fast as I could. I was almost there when something collided with me, and I was thrown sideways, into a grassy area.

I slid several feet before getting up as fast as possible and looking around. Tenebrae was hovering a few feet off the ground, about thirty meters away. He had both arms raised to hip-level, and they were brimming with purple-colored auras. He was sneering smugly. He knew I wouldn't be able to do nearly anything against his magic, and he knew I knew it too.

I was a few meters away from a house, so I dove behind it just in time to watch a blur of purple light streak right by where I had been and hit a bush, blasting it completely away.

"Damn it," I muttered to myself. "Luna'd better hurry up with that fire, or I doubt there'll be much left of me to defend."

I looked to the general direction Sweet Apple Acres was in, but I soon realized I had no need to exert myself searching. A smoke plume was now rising, and it was growing. Fast.

BAM!

Everything spun around me as I felt myself be lifted off the ground. I felt a pain in the left side of my head, and everything stopped spinning. I had been slammed into the side of a building, and based on the wetness dripping from my nose onto my lips, I was bleeding from one nostril, if not both.

I staggered to my feet, but fell the other way. Once again, everything was thrown off in my vision. I guess I have no choice. I have to fight. If for no other reason, I just have to keep him distracted long enough, and me getting the shit kicked out of me wasn't going to last very long. I have to get him on the defensive, even if for half-a-second.

Everything righted itself, and I flew off again, trying to steer clear of any wide-open areas, like in front of the Books and Branches, or out by Town Hall. I would be wide-open to an attack in those places. Needless to say, a wide-open area to be attacked in would be nigh on suicide.

I managed to duck down between two houses out somewhat close to Sugarcube Corner. The smoke plume was growing, but I noticed it wasn't growing as quickly as it had been. Maybe Luna had gotten it to at least slow dow- oh no. It had gotten as wide as it could, and it was now advancing away from where it had been.

"Such a lovely day it was," Tenebrae's voice rang out, and he sounded none too pleased. "Too bad I had to spoil it for the rest of you. And in its current state, the Harvest Festival appears to have been cancelled, permanently. I do love party crashing. Or should I say, party wrecking?"

He started laughing rather sinisterly.

"Oh, there you are!" he suddenly let out, the voice coming from right above me.

Before he had finished, I was out and flying as fast as I could away. I heard two loud blasts hit right where I had been, and was thankful I had managed to get away-

BOOM!

The ground in front of me exploded into dust and rubble, and I was forced to shut my eyes when flying through.

WHAM!

Big mistake. I just went head-first into a wall.

I opened my eyes slowly, watching as everything was spinning again, even though I was firmly planted in the ground. I curled up and waited for everything to right itself.

And once again, that was a huge mistake.

I felt his front hoof-substitutes curl around my mane, and effortlessly, he yanked me into the air. Not to mention, it was hurting my head, where the hair connected to my scalp.

"Let! Me! Go!" I shouted as I swung around, trying to hit his arm off of me.

He smirked, then started swinging me around. The air around me became a blur, and suddenly, I felt him let go. I struggled to regain my composure as I flew through the air. I finally did, but I saw in front of me, an oncoming wall.

There was no way I would be able to stop myself from crashing into it, so I flipped myself around to my back, and-

A sudden change of direction caught me completely off-guard. At nearly the last second, I felt hooves catch me and fling me into the air, where I slowed, and regained control. I looked down to see Rainbow Dash. She had a determined smile on her face, and promptly saluted me. I grinned back at her and returned the salute.

/[A]\

I looked down to see Twilight Sparkle firing magic beams of light at Tenebrae, who was batting them aside like he had Luna's. However, while Luna's beam had set the tree it made contact with on fire, Twilight's merely dissipated harmlessly whenever it hit a Ponyville house. I flew down by Rainbow Dash when I saw that Tenebrae was distracted.

"Who all's here helping?" I asked.

"It's me, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy are helping the Princesses with the fires at Sweet Apple Acres. We don't have them completely out, but they're under control now. How 'bout you?"

"Wait. Did you say 'princessES? Plural?" Did Celestia really get Spike's letter that quickly?

"Well, yeah. Princess Celestia showed up a few minutes after we got everypony into the forest. Said she was making sure we were all safe. Then when Twilight told her about you two stayin' behind, she went to help Luna immediately, and Twilight told us all to split up and go help too. Looks like we got here just in time, too."

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, what gave that away? The fact that you caught me flying through the air toward a wall, or the fact that my beautiful face is going to be pretty banged up for-"

A shot of purple light whizzed right by me, and as for whether it was one of Tenebrae's spells, or one of Twilight Sparkle's that went awry, I didn't know, and I really couldn't have cared less. I just wanted to stay the buck away from them.

And where was Pinkie Pie? RBD said she was helping out here, but where?

I noticed her in an alleyway. Her Party Cannon was out and, by the look of things, primed to fire.

Which gives me an idea…

I flew on down right by the alley, at an angle where Tenebrae wouldn't see the cannon.

"Hey Tenebrae! What's with your aim! Even I can hit Twilight from where you are, and I've hit two walls today head-first!"

Tenebrae turned and scowled at me.

"If you think such petty insults are going to get me to attack you, you are sorely mistaken-"

"That's not what your mother said last night!" I shouted.

Tenebrae rolled his eyes at me.

"I don't have a mother, you imbecile. I was created out of the cosmos."

"Did he sneeze? I think he uhh, messed up when he was working on your face."

That got him. I guess he can't stand insults to that ugly mug of his. His scowl turned into a snarl, and he immediately flew right at me.

With a noise like a party noise-maker, Pinkie Pie's party cannon got him from the side, completely catching him off-guard, and I took advantage of him stumbling.

I flew at Tenebrae's back, and I managed to make solid contact, much to my delight. I had shoved him face-first into a wall at top speed.

I will not lie. The amount of satisfaction I got for doing that should be illegal in every universe. But I still think I could possibly get more than just this amount. If only there were a certain Nightmare around for me to slam into a wall…

I flew back quickly as an aura of magic exploded outward from Tenebrae, positively destroying the wall of the house he had just been slammed into. He turned around, eyes alight with fury, even though there didn't appear to be a scratch on him.

Oh great. And I just pissed him off. Wonderful.

"You really thought that would work?" he asked in a flat, hard voice.

He then lunged at an impossible speed, tackling me through a house, and proceeding to grab me by my tail and fling me through the wall, into another house.

But I didn't stop. I ended up going through another house.

And another one.

And finally, falling to rest in front of the library. I staggered to my hooves, feeling my entire body protest at the action. I had taken quite a beating, and it didn't look like he was letting up soon.

And then I saw him standing walking toward me from the direction of the houses I just got thrown through, and without a second thought, I flew at him.

Strike that, I flew right through him. Into a wall. Again.

Tenebrae started to laugh, this time sounding genuinely amused.

"I can't believe you fell for that!" he said after his mirth subsided.

He picked me up and tossed me across the little plaza.

"And I never thought you'd be this easy to take down, especially considering your little outburst the last time I was here. But I suppose since you haven't learned how to shoot lightning yet, I should have expected this. Pity, though. It just means my plan get to be held back a little."

He raised an arm, magic brimming at the hoof area, surrounded by his five digits.

"Well, unless I have misjudged pony physiology, this next blast should knock you clean out, and you can't do anything to stop me right now. Well then, I wish you unpleasant dreams."

There was a blinding flash of blue light, a yell that sounded like Tenebrae's, and what sounded like somepony standing right in front of me.

"I'll kill you if you lay your hand on him again," said a deathly quiet voice that I recognized as Luna's.

Oh thank Lux, she was here to save my ass. Also, what's a hand? It is one of those hoof-substitutes? I guess I'll just call them that from now on. It's certainly shorter and more convenient.

The light faded, and I saw her standing with her back to me, facing Tenebrae, who was standing in a crater, panting heavily. Based on the expression of rage, the slight smoke rising from him, and the aura of magic surrounding Luna's horn, she had just unleashed quite the magic spell on him. I tried to edge out, but she extended her wings, blocking me.

"Stop," she said, facing me, a stern look on her face. "You're in no condition to keep fighting. Find somewhere to hide, and take cover."

"What about the fire?" I asked.

"Tia's got it covered. It's almost out, now go!"

"What about you?" I asked as I extended my wings, groaning and wincing when they suddenly spiked in pain.

"If he thinks I'm just a defenseless princess, he has another thing coming."

She turned back to Tenebrae as I prepared myself to fly.

Tenebrae glanced at me, then all his rage disappeared as a dangerous smile broke across his face.

"How long ago was it that we first met, Luna?" he asked, making quite sure I could hear it. "_A thousand years_ or so, right?"

And just like that, any and all desires to fly away have vanished. As has all exhaustion, and for whatever reason, the pain seems to have gone away too. Luna stared at Tenebrae with an absolutely enraged and dumbfounded expression.

"That was YOU!" she thundered, and I noticed, the pupils in her eyes started to elongate slightly.

"Yep! That was me," said Tenebrae, smiling.

I stepped out from behind Luna and I too glared at Tenebrae.

"How! How was it you! I was told that what turned her into Nightmare Moon was jealousy!" I shouted at him.

Tenebrae nodded, still smiling.

"And you are half-true. See, everypony here believes that. Including you, Luna, and your sister. And only because it is true. You did succumb to jealousy. Allow me to explain my role in this. Up until then, I'd already had plans in motion to get into this world. You remember Discord?" he suddenly asked, raising an eyebrow.

Luna's rage faltered, replaced by surprise.

"Exactly. I created him for the sole purpose of completely ruining the natural laws that govern this land. I thought if I could completely screw up the laws of nature of this world, it would also end whatever it is that prevented me from entering this place. However, while Discord went rampant on the surface, my sister introduced two new pieces to this little game of cosmic chess we were playing."

And right there, my rage completely went bye-bye. Luna and Celestia had been pawns of Lux's? Luna looked similarly affected.

"Oh yes, she brought you two into this world. She brought you two in so that you could use these fabled Elements of Harmony to stop him completely. But, well, it was just another balancing of the scales. See, you cannot destroy chaos. Chaos is merely the absence of order, which you and your older sister brought. So the best you could do was to imprison him in stone."

He suddenly jumped up, and landed in a pose similar to how Rainbow Dash was flying. As if he were laying on a hammock, despite the fact that he was floating in the air.

"Naturally, I knew I had to find a way to subvert that order you two brought. I sent threat after threat. The original Changeling Army? I tried to get a few impersonators in to find a way to take your place and bring down the enchantment keeping me out, but it appeared you were not the ones keeping it up, but they were simply transported away from Equestria by the Elements. The Insurrectionists? I thought I might get them to usurp your position and remove you from the playing field entirely, but they got banished to another world by the Elements of Harmony. At that moment, it seemed like all was lost, and I would never find a way in, but…"

And here looked directly at Luna.

"You and your sister, Luna, decided to delegate duties so you could be better prepared if more threats came. You were given a pretty easy task, simply raising the moon and watching over the night. Well, apparently, it really got to you that everyone slept through the night you provided, despite how beautiful it was. And so the seeds of jealousy were planted."

He lowered himself to the ground and stood up.

"I'm not going to lie, I may have helped water these seeds a little, but the end result was just what I wanted. One of the Royal Pony Sisters had been corrupted, and that left the duty to keep the peace all on one pony's shoulders. At that moment, I seized my opportunity and took you by force, transforming you into Nightmare Moon."

He looked right at me.

"At last, I had a foothold, and I thought I would be able to step in and take the land over, but one again, I was thwarted by my sister's foresight, and Princess Celestia sealed her sister away on the moon for a thousand years with the damned Elements of Harmony.

"Four different plans, thwarted by the Elements. However, I knew that in time three of my plans would strike again. First, Nightmare Moon. However, behind the scenes, I was already working on my fifth plan, a final plan to directly bring an outsider into this world."

I stepped backward, staggering from all of this. He had been behind _everything _that has ever happened to Equestria?

Tenebrae tossed his head back, causing his spikes to shale a little, but he quickly resumed his stance, glaring at us.

"Well, true to the old mare's tale, Nightmare Moon returned. However, I had already abandoned her, that is to say, you. I was laying the ground for an endgame, three final plans to use. I no longer needed Nightmare Moon, so I took my power away from her and thus, she was defeated. Despite the fact that I had worked so hard to cause the gap between sisters, a thousand years of no contact proved to be a helper to me in this case, far more than just a simple little split. Without you on the same page as her, Celestia could not keep Discord from returning."

Luna scowled. I looked over to the smoke plume to see it dying away. Just a little bit longer…

"And why exactly did you need Discord?" I asked. Maybe if I can get him to talk for just a while longer...

"It's simple, really. I needed him to shake up the universe's laws again. Which he did flawlessly, if only for a short time. I then spent time having Queen Chrysalis, one of the few surviving Changelings from the first army, marshal a Changeling army, like I did in the past, and I unleashed them upon Canterlot. Queen Chrysalis did her job admirably, although she turned to her own desires in the end. I imparted on her the importance of making sure Shining Armor's spells faltered. She succeeded, and while you all were distracted, I finished Discord's work, and I managed to break the barrier surrounding this world, and that made it possible for me to bring outsiders in, because I knew it would take Lux at least a few years to repair the damage."

And here is when I got confused. Exactly how is it that I serve as a doorway for Tenebrae to come through?

"Why? Why bring a human here? What makes him a door to this world for you?" asked Luna.

Tenebrae scoffed.

"I would have thought you'd have figured this out by now Princess. I suppose you've gotten a splinter in the past, yes? The wood, that foreign material invading the body, opens up a gap in the skin that protects the inside of your body, allowing foreign agents to enter. You'll find that the enchantments Lux laid down function in a similar manner. Once I forced Splinter over there into your world, I breached the defenses and it allowed me entry. Unless you find a way to get Flare home, you'll be seeing a lot of me in the future, because the more I enter, the easier it gets, to the point where I won't even have to use him anymore."

Luna looked at me, but I couldn't tell what she was thinking based on her expression. She let out a sniff, then turned back to Tenebrae.

"It almost sounds like you don't want him here anymore. Why else would you attack him so? Out to destroy your only door?"

Tenebrae smiled.

"No, but you're on the right track, princess. I'm only out to keep him from getting too strong. Once I can enter this world of my own free will, without him to serve as a door, I can leave him alone. But for now, I need to make sure he stays too weak to drive me off should I ever decide to come a-calling. Now, would you kindly step aside? I have a Pegasus to beat up."

I was about to dash at him, but Luna stepped in front of me again, wings extended to prevent me from moving at him.

"As I said before, I'll kill you if you lay another hand on him."

I had never heard this much anger in her voice before, except for maybe that time where I accidentally insulted her. I certainly hope she has a temper. It would be nice to let out in this situation.

Tenebrae started to cackle.

"And do you think you can stop me?"

Luna didn't answer immediately, instead turning to me and giving me a look that plainly said "You disobey and I'm going to make you pay for it," while she verbally said, "Run, now."

Much as I'd like to stick around and help, especially considering my best friend's probably biting off more than she can chew with Tenebrae, I shut my mouth, nodded, and proceeded to fly up to the roof of a nearby house. How the hell was she going to manage this?

Tenebrae shared my line of thought.

"You must be joking. How are you, a mere alicorn, going to compete with me, a bona fide god?"

She smirked.

"Like this."

There was a bright flash of light that emanated from her, so bright I had to look away. When I looked back, I beheld Nightmare Moon standing right where Luna had been. And she looked none too pleased with the situation before her.

Cue jaw drop.

There was a small popping sound next to me, and I turned to see Twilight Sparkle with Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

"What's happening?" asked Twilight. She sounded both worried and (as expected) fascinated by all of this.

I said nothing, but I gestured down to where Nightmare Moon had currently begun firing Magic Lasers of Death at Tenebrae. It was bad enough that I couldn't do anything to help, but what made it even more salt-in-the-wound was that Nightmare Moon was actually _winning_.

For all his supposed power, something Nightmare Moon had in her magic was forcing Tenebrae absolutely on the defensive. But while I had been led to believe Nightmare Moon was an alternate persona that had corrupted Luna, this Nightmare Moon did seem to actually be Luna, fully aware and in control.

A small little trail of smoke flew in from the direction of the fire, and it resolved itself into a note. Twilight Sparkle opened it, and she let out a relieved sigh.

"The fires are out, and now the Princess and the others are making sure there aren't any embers left that could restart it. Celestia says to hold on a bit longer, she's almost here."

I looked back down in time to see Tenebrae get blasted sideways into a building. I decided I couldn't sit back and do nothing anymore.

I flew up to a nearby group of clouds and I started pushing one over to where Tenebrae and Luna were duking it out.

_**What are you doing, Flare Dancer?**_

Listen, Lux, can you tell Luna to freeze all the water I cause to fall from this cloud?

_**I can, but-**_

No buts! We have to do this!

_**Very Well, but be aware, it will not stop him. Nor will the combined efforts of Celestia and Luna. I will have to assist you directly if Tenebrae proves capable enough to deal with them.**_

Umm, okay.

Not three seconds later, Luna's head swiveled up to where I was, and her expression looked somewhat confused. I nodded at her, and she blinked slowly, as if to say, "I got it."

I then proceeded to start bouncing on the cloud, causing it to rain all over Tenebrae. Tenebrae looked up at me, and he looked absolutely lost for words, as if wondering, "What the Tartarus is he doing?"

Which proved to work to my advantage, for the moment he did that, Luna inhaled an incredible amount of air and blew it in a focused gale at Tenebrae. Everything in the path of the wind froze solid, and due to Tenebrae being absolutely soaked, he froze solid, having turned back to the Princess in surprise.

I flew on down and landed next to Luna. Her form flashed and she reverted to her original, normal self.

"Who was that, talking to me in my head?" she asked immediately, not taking her eyes off the Tenbraesickle.

"Lux. That was Lux," I explained. "I don't know much about her, other than that she's Tenebrae's sister."

Luna looked slightly pensive.

"It's strange. I'm sure I've never met her before, but she seemed familiar. It was as if we had met a long time ago, but I had forgotten her. You ever had that feeling before?" she asked, looking at me, curiously.

I looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Really? You're asking me that, even though I'm the one with only two months' worth of memories?"

She gave a half-laugh.

"Wow, I really am turning into you, aren't I? Making comments without bothering to think them through before I say them? What's next? I'll start fidgeting every minute or so?"

I lightly clopped her to the back of the head.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

There came a crunching noise. We both looked at the frozen form of the demigod of Darkness. His frozen hand, slightly raised to repel the stream of frost that had come from Luna, was glowing in that deep violet color.

With a crystalline shattering sound, the ice exploded off of him and flew in all directions. And a beam of energy was flying directly at me, and I couldn't react in time-

"Flare! Look out!"

I felt someone's form slam into mine, sending me flying sideways into a building. Why is it that every time I go flying due to a throw, or a hit or whatnot, I always have to hit something made of stone? Like that rock my first day, all these buildings today, what next?

And then my eyes fell on Luna, who was lying still, eyes shut, and a small amount of blood trickling from her nose.

"LUNA!"

I wasn't aware that I had yelled that until about a moment after I had reached Luna's side. Her chest moved slowly, but she was alive, and breathing. Her pulse seemed normal. It matched mine, anyway, albeit slowing somewhat quickly.

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about her," came that hammy voice, which sounded surprisingly subdued. "She's just unconscious, no lasting damage. I mean, that spell was intended for you, after all, and I don't want to waste my most valuable servant now, do I?"

I looked up at him to see him standing over us, looking at Luna as though she were a semi-interesting page of a book.

"I must admit, it did not occur to me that someone would automatically jump in the way of magic for the sake of the other. What a foolish sentiment. I mean, you're both gonna die some time, so why delay it?"

He furrowed his brow, but suddenly, his eyes widened as the realization of whatever he was thinking about came to him.

"Oh. I get it now. I should have seen this."

I swung at him, but he effortlessly backed away a few feet, safely out of range.

"What are you on about?" I asked him, infuriated that he had hurt Luna like this. Sure it wasn't permanent and she would make a full recovery, but that still doesn't excuse the act.

"Are you THAT blind? I know most men from your world are, but this is rather ridiculous. She constantly gets flustered when someone insinuates you two being together, she is very fond of you being around, and she is willing to take a potential death-blow for your sake. Open your eyes, Flare Dancer! She loves you!"

And suddenly, my fury is gone, replaced by absolute shock, and I feel very self-conscious about that harmless little "I love you" I had told her earlier. Hell, I feel very self-conscious, _period_. I looked down at her unconscious form, still feeling very confused and shocked by all of this.

"Oh? It seems that it wasn't unrequited, either. You yourself have feelings for her, and they are plain as day right now."

I do NOT! I've only known her for two months! She trolls me deliberately, she always clops me to the back of the head when she feels like it, she looks amazing in her own moonlight, I-

I…

I do. And what's more, I've had them for a while now, but I've been too stubborn to acknowledge them, let alone embrace them.

"But this is absolutely touching! The star-crossed couple realizes they actually have feelings for each other, right in the middle of the battle where the dude with the badass black and silver hair is kicking their asses! This is so rich it makes me want to puke!"

He started laughing again, but this laugh didn't seem like one of amusement. More like one of anger.

"Heh, I have failed my original goal. I wanted to keep you uncorrupted by these distracting and useless emotions. You're no longer fit to be my servant then, I suppose. I guess now the gloves are off. Oh, but wait. I can still use you for a door. Yes, I still can carry on. Oh, and you still look like you could use a perfectly good beating! Time to finish you off!"

He leapt at me faster than physically possible-

And got blasted to the side by a beam of golden light.

I turned to see who my savior was, but the light was so bright, I had to shield my eyes.

"How dare you touch my sister!" thundered the voice of the person I had hoped to the cosmos above would get here soon, and thank goodness Celestia finally got here.

Tenebrae let out a short little groan as he extricated himself from the small pile of rubble that covered him on the other side of the wall next to me. He stood up, brushed a lot of the dust off, then smirked at the princess.

"Oh, hello again, Celestia. It's been a while."

Celestia's horn flashed, and both she and Tenebrae vanished with a popping noise, though I heard a second one a few yards away, behind a building. Seemed she wanted to give us a moment to recover. How nice of her.

I gently nudged Luna's limp form, slowly getting more and more firm in the nudges for the next few seconds or so, until to my utter relief, she groaned, opened her eyes, and looked around blearily.

"Wuzzappening?" she said thickly, looking everywhere.

I stilled her gently, feeling oddly protective of her in her current state.

And suddenly, she bolted upright, knocking me over in her haste to get back to the fight.

"Where'd he go! I'll tear him in two for everything he's done to you!"

And just like that, my feelings of protectiveness were blasted away.

"Luna! Luna, stop. Your sister's dealing with Tenebrae right now. Just relax a little. You're in no condition to continue fighting."

She appeared not to hear me.

"_**WHERE IS HE!"**_

I leapt right in front of her, right as she was about to take flight, and I flared my wings out, making it clear that she was not to go.

She gave me one of her looks of deep resentment, and I can't say I didn't empathize. I really wanted to go after Tenebrae too, but right now, Celestia's giving us time to recuperate. Better make use of it.

"Flare, why are you stopping me? He's still on the loose and we have to-"

I placed a hoof on her lips, silencing her.

"We can't do anything right now. We're both in terrible condition. Tia's giving us time to recover a bit, and we need to use it in the best way possible."

She relaxed, and sat down, using her magic to start healing me wherever she could. Despite her being a powerful alicorn, her magic had its limits, and healing seemed to be it. I guess it takes too much energy to heal someone from an injury.

"I give it five minutes, not a second more, and I'm going in," she said, her gaze just challenging me to stop her.

I nodded. I was doing my best to think of a way to nonchalantly bring up what Tenebrae had told me, but at the same time, we are in the middle of a serious battle right now.

"Flare, there's something I need to tell you," she blurted out suddenly, looking down at the ground.

Oh, well, I suppose that works too.

"Uh, okay. What is it?"

She brought a hoof to her forehead, assuming a troubled expression. And now her blush was back. Oh yeah, I knew where this was going.

"Listen, Luna. You don't have to tell me. I know, alright?"

Her head bolted up, and she looked alarmed.

"You- you know! How do you-"

"Tenebrae, after you took the hit. He made the observation."

She stared at me for a moment, then looked back down.

"I feel so foalish. I thought that it was a literal death spell, and I thought 'What if I don't get to tell him,' but I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

I still needed to make sure it wasn't Tenebrae trying to play our emotions. Or at least mine. It happened a lot in RBD's movies that it would seem like they were on the same page in a conversation like this, but in reality, they were on two separate subjects.

"I… I still need to hear it from you," I said.

She looked at me with one of those "seriously?" looks on her face, but she sunk back down, still attempting to catch her breath.

"Fine. Flare, I… I just…"

She sighed heavily and OH MY GOD SOME OTHER PONY'S LIPS ARE ON MINE!

I think I may have blanked out there for a few seconds, but I gently pushed her away from me. I regretted it instantly. Those puppy-dog eyes could make Tenebrae cry. And boy, did she look like she was about to.

"I understand if you... don't have the same feelings," she said, looking hurt, and not wanting to meet my eyes.

I shook my head.

"It's not that I don't like you Luna. I… well, I only just now decided to admit that I do have feelings for you, strong ones to be honest-," she looked up, disbelief on her face, before she broke into a nervous smile, "-to myself. But we're going to make it through today. We need to talk about this later, because now's not exactly the best time or place to do so," and here her smile vanished, as she frowned again.

There was a loud boom from somewhere distant. And it only served to emphasize my statement.

"But now may be the only chance we get," she said, looking at me seriously. "I'd hate to see it go to waste."

I facehoofed.

"Look, we're going to get out of this alright. Tenebrae's already said he ain't going to kill anypony. We can talk about… well, about_ us_ later. One, because battlefield confessions are cliché, and two, because we need to slow this d-"

CRASH!

The wall next to me exploded towards us as Tenebrae was sent flying through it. He sat up, looked around, as if he hadn't just come crashing through the wall, then smirked.

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked in a troll voice that could have made Luna jealous.

Suddenly, he was surrounded in a golden aura, and he was thrown away again, as Celestia cantered on through, ever so gracefully.

"How're things going?" I asked.

"Much better than last time," Celestia said with a slight smile. "Luna seems to have sapped much of his energy when she fought him."

Luna smiled.

"Works for me," I said, as I got up and got ready to go after Tenebrae. Luna got up too.

As the three of us started cantering out to face him, I muttered to Luna, "Man, I wish the Nightmares were here."

Luna raised an eyebrow.

"Even Frigoris?"

"Especially Frigoris," I laughed. "He'd knock Tenebrae a new one if he learned you took even a scratch."

Tenebrae had landed a few feet away and he got to his feet.

"I never cared much for rope-a-dope styles of fighting," he said, shaking the dust off of him. Celestia seemed taken aback. Despite the beating Tenebrae looked to have taken, he emerged without so much as a scratch!

He yawned, then exploded some energy outward. It wasn't enough to hurt us, but it did knock us back a step or so. All it did to him was completely clean him off of all the rubble and dust. And not a mark was on him.

Shit.

"Yes, I never much saw the point of taking hits when you could oh so easily obliterate your opponent within minutes, but I see why human boxers like it so much. To think that I managed to successfully waste away nearly all of both of your energies, Royal Sisters."

Celestia and Luna both snarled. I was too concerned on the negative aspect of this. They didn't have much energy left, I couldn't use anything to get at him, and there was no way to stop him from beating me to a pulp anymore.

_**Fear not! I am almost there!**_

Lux? What do you- no, now is not the time.

Tenebrae held up his hand, with an aura of purple magic, and a beam shot out and smote me directly at my abdomen, sending me flying a few feet back. I didn't hit any buildings this time; instead, I slid to a stop in the dirt, right close to where Luna and I'd had our little chat.

I got back up, wiped some blood from my mouth, then cantered on back toward the group. Tenebrae rolled his eyes when he saw me start walking back.

"I'll never understand you, you know that? I've already proven I can completely demolish you in a fight, and yet, you still keep coming back for seconds. Are you a masochist, or something?"

He raised his hand to strike again, but before he could, there came a slight whirling sound.

Small dots of light started appearing from thin air, much like Tenebrae's wisps of dark auras, and also like Tenebrae's darkness, they converged onto one spot, combining and forming a shape that stood directly between the three of us and Tenebrae.

The shape was also humanoid. Her hair, rather than being spiky, was long and straight, to the small of her back. When the light cleared, she wore a long, flowing gown of pure white, almost like a dress, except that it seemed more fitted for action than idly standing, and her hair was revealed to be a platinum blonde, almost white color. Her back was to us, so I couldn't see any details of her face. Her hands brimmed with golden energy, ready to attack Tenebrae.

She turned and looked at the three of us. Her eyes were a pure shade of blue, and she was as pale as the man standing on the other side of her. But while Tenebrae's eyes gave off an air of malice and fury, hers seemed to have a gentle and intense kindness emanating from them.

Truly she and Tenebrae were opposites. Which makes her only one possible being.

"Brother!" she said loudly, turning back to Tenebrae. "Stand down!"

Tenebrae smirked.

"And are you going to stop me, Lux?"

Lux assumed a defensive pose, protecting the three of us.

[B]

Tenebrae lunged at Lux, who caught him, and turned his own force against him. She swung him around and released him back the way he had come, sending him flying into an as-yet untouched building. Tenebrae flipped himself over and pushed off of it, but instead of flying at Lux, he shot into the air.

Lux turned around and held out a hand brimming with golden light at us. There was a bright flash, and the next thing I knew, the three of us were standing on a hill, a fair distance away from Ponyville, but not so far that we could not see what was happening.

I was about to fly back to the scene of the battle, but Celestia held a hoof out in front of me.

"No. I'm sure she can handle herself. In the meantime, I'm going to go and gather reinforcements. Stay put until I return, is that clear?" she asked, looking at me and Luna, with a look that made it clear that we were to do as she commanded.

I nodded. I had no desire to intervene in a fight between god and goddess. Luna, however, didn't seem to share my view of the situation.

"But Sister! We have to fight to defend-" she started, but Celestia overruled her.

"No! You cannot fight! You are exhausted, and Flare is powerless; you would only be in the way. I, however, retain most of my power, but I can see that I am going to need help. I am going to get as many of my guards as I can, preferably the Unicorns and Captain Squall, and return here. Then, and only then, will we go. Do you need me to marshal the Nightmares?"

Luna looked like she was going to argue again, and she even opened her mouth to do so, but again, Celestia overruled her.

"I will bind you here, if I must, so that you do not go down there! I understand you want retribution for what he did to Flare, and I'm sure Flare would like the same for what he did to you," I felt my cheeks heat up, "but you are physically incapable of doing anything right now. And if I have no choice but to imprison you until I return so that you may remain safe, I will take it without any second thoughts!"

Luna's eyes blazed with anger, but she conceded.

"Fine. I will stay. Make it quick. I don't want to miss out on all the fun Lux is having over there, though. I want some semblance of Tenebrae left to punish."

I elbowed her.

"Leave some for me, mare." I said, lightly admonishing her.

She gave me a cheeky grin.

Celestia looked from Luna to me, and back, before letting out a sniff.

"Very well. I'll go as fast as I can."

And with that, she flared her wings and flew off towards Canterlot as fast as she could.

I'll be honest. I've seen Rainbow Dash go, but I swear, Celestia could take all of the Wonderbolts if she wanted to. She was _fast!_ One minute she was there, the next, she was a blur in the distance.

I sat down (and I heard Luna do the same), and turned back to Ponyville. There were now two shapes flying above the town. Tenebrae was surrounded by a purple aura, and Lux by a golden one. Inside of Tenebrae's aura, on his back, were two wings, much like the ones he'd had as an alicorn. Lux's were white, and they looked like a Pegasus' wings would, though there appeared to be many more feathers. They were firing beams of energy at each other, and where they collided, explosions occurred.

"Man, they are just going at it," I commented.

"He wants to utterly annihilate her. I know the feeling," Luna said in a flat voice.

I looked at her, but she was focused on the battle.

"Oh?"

I already knew why, but still…

"I guess it was his feelings toward Lux that came out in me when I became Nightmare Moon," she said, her voice starting to waver with some emotion. "That feeling, that urge to destroy everything she strove for, to oppose her and defeat her, no matter the scale, no matter the importance. That utter _hatred! _I… I don't want to feel it ever again."

I sidled on over to her and draped a wing around her.

"And you won't. I'll make sure of it."

She said nothing, but looked up at me, her eyes a lot more watery than they normally were. If I get diabetes from how sweet this is, I'll never forgive myself.

I smiled warmly down at her, then turned back to the fight.

Lux and Tenebrae had a beam of magic each, and they were pushing against each other in a lock that reminded me of when Celestia's and Tenebrae's beams met.

Lux stopped her beam, then held out both of her hands and simply caught Tenebrae's magic, holding it off as hard as she could. With one hand, she managed to conjure a shield around herself that kept out Tenebrae's magic to some degree, but I could see she was straining to hold it up. She used her free hand to fire another beam of energy at Tenebrae.

Tenebrae snarled and dove away from the beam, stopping his own in the process. He flew at Lux, holding out a hand as he went. With a flash of dark-colored flames, a thin sword of average length (from what I had seen of old Canterlot antiques) appeared in his hands. The blade was made of what looked like darkened silver, and formed into the likeness of his wings. The thin, cutting side was the side of the membrane between the bones of the wing. It was a blade meant for hacking away, a tool of war and offense.

When he was within range, he swung viciously at Lux, who blocked it with her magic shield, but where the blade made contact, the shield appeared to crack. He reared back and swung at another side, and it too cracked the shield. In short order, Tenebrae managed to completely shatter Lux's magical protection.

Lux flew herself back, away from Tenebrae, and fired two beams of energy in short succession. The first was slower than the second, and the second flew right at the first.

When they were about a foot away from Tenebrae, they collided and exploded. Tenebrae was blown backwards, struggling to regain control.

"Where are Twilight Sparkle and the others?" I asked, suddenly realizing that I hadn't seen them since I flew up to get rain clouds.

"Tia told them to get away and get in the forest with everypony else," Luna explained. "I am grateful for their assistance, especially Rainbow Dash, since she saved your ass, but I do not want to see them hurt during the events of today."

I nodded. I felt the same way about things. I know I wouldn't be conscious at the moment, and probably in Tenebrae's clutches, if I had hit the wall that last time before Dash had intervened. They have my gratitude for giving me time to recuperate and to continue fighting until Luna got there.

Come to think of it, everyone who stood and fought today deserves my thanks. But there's a time and place for everything, and now's not it.

Lux and Tenebrae flew at each other, and their auras met in midair. Due to the overlapping energies, I couldn't see much of what happened. A few seconds later, there was a resounding report and a visible explosion. An instant later, Lux and Tenebrae were sent hurtling away from each other at top speed.

Lux regained control faster, about a hundred yards from where the smoke from the explosion was still clearing. Tenebrae didn't regain control until he almost collided with Town Hall, but he managed to prevent himself from doing so.

There was a bright flash of light next to us, and a number of unicorn guards appeared, led by Captain Squall. The Captain was dressed in his armor, and he looked ready for combat. The guards' horns brimmed with magic as well. There came another flash, and the twelve Nightmares appeared, expressions fierce.

"Where the buck is he? I want at him," came the distinctly soft yet dangerous female voice of Crisium.

"Calm yourself Crisium," said Squall, holding a hoof out at her.

I suddenly wondered what Frigoris would do if he saw me with a wing around Luna, and I was quick enough to retract it. Just in time too, because the pony of the hour himself approached Luna and lowered his head to her.

"How may we be of service, my Princess?" he asked in a flat voice.

Luna stood up and drew herself to her full height. I stood also, but scooted away from her, to see what she would do. Her bearing suddenly changed when in front of subordinates near a field of battle. It was like watching a cat. One moment it was relaxing in the sun, the next, it was glaring everywhere, alert for the slightest hint of danger. While the comparison is a little off, the change in behavior and bearing was that noticeable.

There was yet another flash, and Celestia reappeared. She had another few unicorn guards with her, but these were in finer armor than the ones Captain Squall was leading. I knew these had to be the Solar Guard.

Celestia cantered over to her sister, and we all stepped back, waiting for orders.

"Everyone, make a perimeter around the site where the duo above are battling. Keep in mind, the one dressed in black and silver, with a purple aura of energy is our enemy. The status of the other is unknown, but we strongly believe her to be an ally," Celestia said quickly. "We want to keep him contained. I'm sure our ally will keep the sky contained. We need to keep him surrounded before we can let loose, else he will escape."

Luna then spoke to Squall and the Nightmares.

"As Pegasi, you can help cover the sky. Make sure he does not have a way out. Lux will aid you. I'm trusting you," and here she directed her gaze at me, though I sensed it was still to all of us, "not to do anything rash or foolish."

Where Squall and the Nightmares saluted with cries of "Ma'am," I nodded.

And with that, the small army of unicorn guards galloped off toward the town with Celestia flying above them, while Luna, Squall, the Nightmares, and I all took off and flew to surround the aerial battle site.

Tenebrae and Lux were engaged in another beam lock, though they were merely a foot away from each other. Each had one hand firing a blast, and the other catching and defending against the other.

Lux saw us coming, then broke off the attack and flew up. Tenebrae didn't follow her, but looked at where she had been. His expression became a snarl when he saw all of us.

He turned around, ready to fly away, but with a flash of light, Luna appeared before him, horn brimming with magic. And just like that, the Nightmares got into position all around him. Squall and I went below, since Lux had above. I was secretly hoping he'd have an excuse to use lightning. I really wanted to learn how. No sense in not learning from the best while he's here, right?

Tenebrae looked around in all directions, then saw an opening. He dashed toward the ground, and managed to get past us.

Which was short lived, because he soon saw the group of unicorn guards everywhere.

He hit the ground in surprise, then got to his feet, looking everywhere for a way out. But there was none. We had him cornered like a rat.

Lux's hands brimmed with her golden magic, Celestia's and Luna's horns brimmed with their magic, the unicorn guards were primed to fire, the Nightmares looked ready to attack, and Squall had a fierce expression on his face. He was absolutely ready to fight.

After a few seconds, Tenebrae straightened. He had his eyes shut, and he was smiling, in that way that a defeated person sometimes will do.

"Not bad," he said in an impressed voice. "You certainly know how to corner a god. If I leave now, I won't be able to return for a few days. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable."

He yawned widely.

"Well, Flare, it's been fun. I do hope you enjoyed the thorough beating I gave you and your friends. However, I have to go. Rest assured, I'll see you around. And sooner than you might think. This may seem rather abrupt, but I have things I could be doing, and being obliterated is not one of them. Cheerio!"

With that, he vanished, dissolving into wisps of darkness, that soon faded from existence. He was gone, for now.

/[B]\

I let out a shaky sigh, landed, and leaned against a wrecked building. Finally.

"What time is it?" I asked, out of curiosity.

Luna landed by me, and looked over at a nearby clock.

"It looks like that took nearly forty-five minutes. The day is still young."

I let out a little chuckle.

"Looks like we'll have to postpone our dance," I said. She giggled a bit, but we were soon interrupted.

In all the excitement, Lux had vanished into light, much like Tenebrae had into darkness. At the moment, her disappearance didn't bother me, as I was too concerned about my immediate group of friends.

_**You performed admirably, Flare Dancer, despite your lack of ability in some Pegasus magic.**_

Oh, well, thanks, I guess.

_**However, the day is not yet done, and there is much I want to speak with you about. You must come to the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters at once. The Princesses of the Day and Night may accompany you. They too must be present, for this affects them as well.**_

Ok, then. To the Old Castle it is.

I turned to Luna, who apparently had noticed what had transpired.

"What did Lux want?" she asked.

"She wants you, me, and Celestia to go to the Old Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters to discuss something with us."

Luna looked at me quizzically. I shrugged my wings.

"Don't look at me. That's all she said."

Luna looked directly at Celestia, who was currently directing Squall and the unicorn guards to return to Canterlot Castle, as their work here was done. She caught Luna's eye, finished up, then cantered on over.

"What's going on?" she asked.

I explained the situation to her briefly. She looked at the sky thoughtfully when I finished.

"We will go as soon as we can. One moment please."

Her horn glowed, and a small sheet of parchment appeared. A quill started writing quickly on it, simply saying that the crisis had passed, and that everypony was safe to come out of the forest. After she had finished, the paper curled up into a scroll, dissolved into smoke, and blew off toward the forest.

"We will go when we have finished making sure everypony made it out of the forest alright. I'm sure Fluttershy did an excellent job of making sure they stayed close enough to Zecora's home so that no creatures went after them," Celestia said, as she watched the smoke-letter fly off. "For now, let's try to help rebuild what we can until they get back."

The twelve Nightmares started to canter on out to where there was some open air to take off in formation. I watched them go, noticing Frigoris cantering on over to me while they went. When he was right next to me, he leaned right up by my ear.

"I'll have some words for you when you get back to the castle," he hissed. And boy, did he sound angry. "Trust me when I say you won't enjoy them."

Before I could fire off a retort, he extended his wings and took off with the rest of the group, and they all flew back toward Canterlot. The unicorn guards' horns glowed, and they vanished moments later. Squall stayed by the Princess, aiming to help clean up the area.

Cleaning up was rather fast. The two princesses together could handle a lot of the wreckage, but occasionally, there came along a beam, or large stones that their magic together couldn't lift, so Squall and I would physically push too. Overall, it was going by quickly.

Little by little, the ponies started to trickle into town from the direction of the forest, and almost immediately, most of the unicorns set to work helping out. About fifteen minutes after we had started, the whole of the western part of Ponyville was clean and reconstructed, possessions and all. The Pegasi and earth ponies did their share of the labor too, heaving the heavier rubble away so the unicorns could use their magic to repair. In no time at all, we didn't have to do a thing. We just sat around, exhausted, and watched the citizens do all the work.

Finally, when I was tired of sitting, I stood up and motioned to Luna and Celestia that I wanted to go. Luna nodded and followed me, but Celestia said a few words to Squall, who saluted and took off for Canterlot. After that, she proceeded to follow us.

"You're gonna have to show me how to get there. I've never been in the forest before," I said to Celestia, who gave a small smile.

"The ponies fear the place, but it really isn't that bad. Well then, follow me, you two."

* * *

_After a little over two weeks, I finally got this one done. It wasn't hard to write all the combat, but what made it difficult was all the explanation and mush in between. I tried to make this chapter hit the 10k word mark, since that's my goal for each chappie as I go (and sooner or later, there's going to be a lot of stuff, so I'll eventually bump it up to about 15k or 20k a chapter._

_**Now then, Summer Classes have started, and I'm taking an online course in Government, so this will have to take a backseat to it. I'll do my best to keep writing at a steady pace while working on it, but it shouldn't be too hard to do.**_

_Now then, I had one anonymous reviewer that I couldn't respond to via email or PM, so Imma respond to Coffee Zombie here: Thanks for the review! Much appreciated, it was. However, while I'm flattered by the prospect of a live recording, Imma have to say not yet. If you're still up for it by the time I'm finished with the story AND I manage to get this thing onto Equestria Daily, you have my blessing, but for now, that's just a small distraction I could do without. However, your feedback is still important. Let me know what you thought of the chapter!_

_Actually, that goes for everyone. __**LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE STORY/CHAPTER! **__I have a grand total of 904 hits, and 13 reviews. That's slightly less than one review per 70 people. That's 69 people who should have reviewed the story, but decided not to for some reason. Now, 904 hits is rather good for this fandom and story on FF Net. I mean, most of my Zelda stories have barely over 1k, my KH stories barely have over 2k, and my Harry Potter barely has over 3k hits, and none of them have over 10 reviews, save for seven._

_Preview for Chapter 5: Jack Thomas_

"_I was the one who took your memory from you, and now I restore it to you."_

"_Luna, we need to talk."  
"I thought you said it had to wait, Flare."  
"It did have to wait. But Tenebrae's not here anymore."_

"_You're a ginger! How come I never get to be a ginger!"_

"_The hell do you want, Frigoris?"  
"I said I'd have some words for you, though I changed my mind. How dare you put our princess in mortal peril!"_

"_Why me? Why not someone else?"_

"_Why am I seeing these things?"_

"_This is a technique I borrowed from someone. It's called the Primary Lotus!"_

_On that note, this is Rytex, signing off. Have a good day!_


	5. Jack Thomas

_**A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 5: Jack Thomas**_

_Hello everyone! Nice to see that I've garnered some love while I was gone. The story finally broke 1k hits (literally, overnight after I posted chapter 3, but then again, I had 904 hits when posting it). Well, this chapter will officially mark the end of Act I. Rest assured, the story is far from being done. In traditional three-act stories, the first act ends with typically some form of revelation, as well as the protagonist deciding to do something about the current state of things. Anyway…_

_Remember, try to find an extended version if you can; non-extendable tracks are marked (N-E). The music for this chapter:_

_A. The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past "Lost Woods"_

_B. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy "Into the Darkness (Final Fantasy IV)"_

_C. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "Get The Master Sword" (N-E)_

_D. Pokemon Black & White "N Battle"_

_I found an extended version of Music B, under the name "Let's Listen: FF Dissidia 012 - Dungeon, Cave Theme ~ FFIV (Extended)." Also, if you can, try to find an extended version of Music A done by Zelda Reorchestrated. I think it fits the environment in which it is going to play a lot better._

_Finally, I submitted the story to Equestria Daily, like I said I would. Sad to say that the story was rejected for several reasons, most notably dull writing (no argument), wish-fulfillment (even though 90% of writing is wish-fulfillment in its entire technicality), and some Gary Stu traits (I beg to differ, since based on the time it took for them to read it, they may have only delved into the first chapter and that alone, so they would not have delved into Flare's persona as deeply as he is as of now). Now, let's be clear, because I have had some little troll do this in the past, just to give me a bad name. Please do not resubmit my story to Equestria Daily for me, or for that matter, don't worry about Equestria Daily at all. Why am I telling you this, you ask? Well, I submitted a story elsewhere in the past, which was rejected, but this one guy hated my story, so he decided "Hey, I might try to give him an even worse name by claiming he had his fans flame them!" so he went and flamed the site, telling them I told all the fans to do it. Well, he was ousted, my story ended up getting published by them in the end (so, thank you, Troll), and life continues._

_Anyway, all is not lost, for I will finish this story, _**_and __its sequels_**_ for you all to enjoy. Yep, I decided on a trilogy. I was thinking of a plot to write about for both of them that would continue off of this one, and be built on it, and one came to me in a stroke of genius. However, more on that when I get to writing it._

_Well, enjoy Chapter 5!_

* * *

The walk to the Everfree Forest was longer than I thought it would be. I thought it was somewhere close by, and in a way, it was. But still, I thought it would be closer to Ponyville than about a mile's trot out there.

On the way, we were interrupted by the passing of the Doctor, whom I personally had to thank for helping me alert the townsponies to Tenebrae's most recent attack. However, the Doctor waved it off. He did, however, seem to be a little more interested in something else.

"You're a ginger! How come I never get to be a ginger?"

Celestia and Luna laughed, but I felt rather sheepish about it. After saying our goodbyes, we parted ways and continued.

We passed by Fluttershy, who was busy making sure all of her animal friends were safe. I didn't feel like interrupting, so we passed on by without a word.

I couldn't help but notice that Luna seemed a little uncomfortable. I knew why, too. I wanted to get our talk over with as quickly as possible, now that we were out of harm's way, but unless Celestia left us alone for the time being, we simply couldn't.

But it seemed Celestia did notice. She caught me looking over at her a moment later, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small smile appear on her face.

"Luna, I believe you know the way to the Old Castle, right?"

Luna looked at her sister inquisitively.

"I do, but why do you ask?"

Celestia looked back toward Ponyville.

"There are some things I need to make sure of in the town. Not the least of which is that everypony and everything is alright in the town. Also, I think you two could use some time to yourselves."

I said nothing. Luna went a little pink, but she too had no reaction.

"I'll be at the Old Castle by the time you get there, but in the meantime, no flying. Not only are you both too exhausted to be doing that, but Flare, you're in terrible condition from your most recent bout. And Luna, your… other self… took a lot out of you. I would teleport all of us to the Old Castle, but my magic's rather exhausted at the moment, and I'd rather not risk it."

I groaned. Not being able to fly sounded almost as bad as being locked up.

Eager to get moving again, I shuffled my wings, groaning a bit as the bruises all over me seemed to finally have feeling. Celestia got the message, spread her wings, and took off.

Luna and I stood, watching her go for a moment, before I turned around and started walking to the forest. It took her a moment to notice, but she caught up quickly.

Unlike our walks to and from Magic Class, she did not seem to be in a hurry to say anything. I, however, felt the silence was growing more and more awkward the longer it got.

Finally, as we strolled past Lyra and Bon-Bon, who cheerfully waved at me as I walked past (I nodded at them to acknowledge), I couldn't take it anymore.

"Luna, we need to talk," I said rather quickly.

She looked at me, a slightly annoyed expression creeping into her face, and she blinked.

"I thought you said it had to wait, Flare."

She knew where I was going with this.

"It did have to wait. But Tenebrae's not here anymore. He said he won't be back for a few days. I think this is the perfect time to talk about…" I searched vaguely for the right term to use, "about… well, us."

She blinked again.

"What's there to talk about? I love you, and if you were being honest back there, you love, or at least like, me. It's quite simple, really."

I rolled my eyes.

"No, it's really not that simple," I said.

And now she rolled _her_ eyes.

"Then tell me why it isn't simple. Go on, I challenge you to find a good reason," she said, obviously bristled by my rebuttal.

I sighed heavily."Listen Luna, you seem to be going at this with a gung-ho attitude, and while I would normally be all for it, after today… well, let's just say it's not for me I'm worried about when we get into this."

She facehoofed.

"You are so dense, you know that? Do you honestly think I don't know the risks? Do you think I haven't considered them? I know what kind of danger I'll be in. And I don't care about-"

"The physical danger is not what I was talking about," I said sharply, cutting her off.

She froze, her mouth forming a slight "o," then closed it and looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"Continue," she said flatly.

I exhaled slowly, letting all the air from my lungs empty, and then refill completely before continuing.

"There are a lot of things to consider before we get right into this. First and foremost, I'm not from this world, and I'm a completely different creature than you. Is it even possible for two entirely different species to be together? If and when I get my memories back, am I going to have to be sent back to my world? If I am, will you ever get over it? I don't know. I know that I won't ever be able to get over it, considering you are my entire life right now. Are you willing to take the risk of me having to leave Equestria forever?"

She opened her mouth to object, but stopped for a moment, and closed it again with a slight kept walking, and I noticed we had finally made it into the Everfree Forest, but we had been too caught up in our discussion to notice it. We followed the path for a slightly long distance before coming to a fork in the road, and there we stopped.

"You're right," she finally said, and she did not sound happy with herself for saying it. "Those are things to consider before we go ahead with this. Now, hear me out. I want the approval of two individuals before we continue."

"Two?" I asked, curious. I think I may know who one of them is, but the second…?

"First, my sister. While it appears she seems to have no problem with us, it would still be proper to ask her what she thinks on this issue," I knew it, "and second, from Lux. She's the one who brought you here. She's the one who upholds the laws of this place. She would have a better idea than I would about this, and she would need to be one to approve also."

I considered it. I had no problems at all. I knew Celestia wouldn't see anything wrong with this, but what about Lux? She was a wild card.

I felt a wing drape over me. I looked over to see Luna with a tender smile on her face, her eyes slightly wet. She seemed emotional just from saying whatever it was she was going to say.

"Hey, for the time being, we should just enjoy the fact that we both have feelings for each other. We can worry about the nuances later."

I smiled back at her, then stopped and offered my front right hoof to her. She looped her own hoof around it, like we had on the way to Harvest Festival, and we continued.

But I still didn't know how to walk on three legs and it was really pissing me off!

Luna did not seem to be in any hurry to get anywhere. She seemed to simply be enjoying the fact that I was falling on my face every time I tried to take a few steps forward, not to mention the fact that we were taking our sweet time in getting to the Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters.

We kept following the path.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" I asked Luna after fifteen whole minutes of following the path. No forks, no turns, just a straight line for fifteen straight minutes.

"How should I know? Any time I want to go to the Old Castle, I just fly there. Sometimes I just teleport."

"Why would you ever want to go there?" I asked.

She removed her hoof from mine and glared at me.

"I'll forgive you for that one. You know that blue sapphire in my room? The one I keep right above my bed's headboard?"

It took me a moment to remember it. A crescent-shaped sapphire, obviously cut with magic. Very old, very valuable, and Luna almost sent me to the sun for so much as touching it.

"Yeah, I know the one. What about it?"

Luna didn't speak for a moment. And when she did, her voice was thick.

"It… it was one of the only things I could salvage from what had been my… my room… and it was undoubtedly my favorite…"

Oh damn it, I did it again. How could I possibly forget that the Old Castle was Tia's and Luna's old home before Canterlot, and Nightmare Moon?

Number of times I have opened my mouth and inserted my hoof in a manner that have upset Luna: 2.

Number of times I have opened my mouth and inserted my hoof period: Too many times to count.

I draped my wing around her and gently said, "I'm so sorry."

She wiped a single tear away before raising her head and continuing on. I followed, still with my wing around her. The fact that she didn't brush it off heartened me. Good to know she still prized "us" more than me not thinking before I spoke.

Something however was making me struggle not to laugh, or smile, and my willpower and facial muscles were fighting a losing battle.

"What is so funny?" she finally asked.

"What about your abacus? I mean, you set that thing on a mantle!"

She did a double-take. I don't think she expected me to know about the abacus. She never brought it up.

"Oh, you mean Abby? Well, that too, but it-"

"You _named_ your abacus?" I asked incredulously.

She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, I named my abacus. At least I didn't name a boulder and carry it with me wherever I went."

"Huh?" I asked. I had never heard this before.

"It's a long story," she said, sounding irritated.

"We've plenty of time," I retorted.

She blinked, then asked, "Remember when I told you about how Twilight Sparkle and her friends defeated Discord?"

I nodded.

"And remember when I told you how Rarity carried around a giant boulder for most of the time she spent corrupted?"

"Yeah- NO!" I interrupted myself. Rarity! Naming a boulder!

Luna nodded, smiling in spite of herself.

"She named it Tom."

I burst out laughing, and I just could not stop. The idea was just so… _absurd! _RARITY! NAMING A BOULDER!

It took several minutes before I was able to get my composure back, and by then, we were now deep within the Everfree Forest.

[A]

Another few minutes passed, and once again I stopped.

"Okay, I know I've seen that tree before," I said, cantering over and clopping a tree with a very distinct O-shaped trunk.

"We've been going in circles? But how? The path has been absolutely straight!" said Luna, looking perplexed.

I know I'm not supposed to be flying, but I just had to see what was going on. I took off and flew high above the trees… and promptly dropped out of the sky when I saw trees all the way to the horizon on every side.

We were lost.

I felt Luna catch me before I hit the ground with her magic, and I was gently lowered.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I- I don't know! There's trees everywhere! I mean, I know the Everfree Forest is big, but I don't think it's as big as it looks from up there!"

Luna furrowed her brow, then took off also. She soared up about a hundred feet, then looked around.

She did a better job of staying airborne than I did, since she was able to land quite easily. However, she was just as stunned by this turn of events as I was.

"What the hay?" she immediately asked. I laughed humorlessly.

"The forest housed the ruins that held the Elements of Harmony for a thousand years. I bet some of the magic started to affect the environment."

We continued straight, but then we came to a crossroads. There was a straight path, but there was another path that crossed perpendicular to ours.

_A man stood at a crossroads, with paths facing north, south, east, and west. Rather than wander aimlessly, the man traveled along the north path, which led him back to the same crossroads. He then went west. When he arrived again, he ventured south, and as expected, he came to the same cross. Finally, he journeyed west again, and the crossroads did not appear. He was free to continue his journey._

"Which way do we go?" Luna asked.

I risked another venture into the sky. It was still morning, and the sun was raised in the east, and would set in the west. At the moment, the sun was high in the sky, though slightly more in the direction we were travelling from.

"We need to go north," I said.

"How do you-"

"I know this is going to sound weird, but I had a… vision. I don't know how to describe it. Like, I saw a guy at a crossroads like ours, and he went north first. Then west, then south, then west again. I don't know where that's from, if it's my memory, or just a hallucination, but I'm inclined to follow it."

She tilted her head as she studied me, as if trying to determine whether or not I was trolling her. But she ought to know better than that. If I was trolling her, I'd probably be smiling while I did it.

After a long look, she sighed heavily.

"Well, we're no closer to getting out if we don't move."

We turned right and started heading north. When we came to the crossroads again, we turned left and went west. Then south, then east. Finally, we didn't meet the crossroads again. Instead, we came to a place where the earth seemed to have collapsed. Looking down, I saw some rocks, as well as a path heading into some woods. A sea of dark green stretched to the horizon from where I stood, but I saw some greyish stone formations in the far distance, as well as a blue river that snaked its way through the green blanket.

"I know where we are now," Luna said, smiling. "We've finally hit the main path. I don't know why, but it seems we came in from a side-path. In any case, follow me."

She led me down a makeshift narrow path that she used magic to blaze down the side of the cliffs we stood on. We continued on, past a small clearing where a sleeping manticore was lying down for a nap.

We passed through a small grove, and soon found ourselves facing the river I had seen snaking its way through the forest. Luna looked slightly surprised at a small bridge that had been erected.

"What's up?" I asked.

Luna just shrugged.

"I didn't know they put a bridge here. Last time I came here, a sea serpent resided in this area. Of course, I just flew over, back then. Now, however, I'm rather glad I don't have to meet him. He was rather strange."

We continued on, and finally came to a small cliff, with a rope bridge connected across the way. Beyond that stood an old structure, made of stone, and crumbling in various areas.

/[A]\

With redoubled effort, I took off for the Old Castle. I was halfway across the bridge when I saw a flash of brilliant white light. Celestia had teleported here, and right on time, too. She stood with her back turned to us, and almost immediately started to explain why she was there at that time.

"I apologize that it took me… so…" she trailed off, then looked back at us.

"Aaaand you just got here too. What took you two so long to get here? Enjoying the moment?" she asked, raising her visible eyebrow, but there was no hint of a smile. She must have thought we took our sweet time because of each other.

"In a manner of speaking," Luna said as she cantered across. "There was a repeating crossroads that I didn't know about, and we kinda got lost in it for a while."

"Oh. It seems you fell prey to the Lost Woods. It only recently started to do that, probably thanks to the constantly fluxing magical influence now that the Elements of Harmony are no longer kept here. How did you get out and get here without flying?" Celestia asked.

"I had some kind of flashback," I said, and I proceeded to explain to her what I stared at me for a moment.

"Hmm... Well, when I was treating one of my dear friends from Canterlot for his memory loss, he started to see those kinds of visions as well. It seems your memory may be returning to you, little by little."

At the same time as that made me feel hopeful about finally remembering who I am, it also made my heart sink. One more thing keeping me and Luna together, and it's about to be out of the question.

That reminds me…

"Princess, I need to ask you something."

She had turned around to go on inside the ruins' courtyard, but stopped and looked back at us. Luna looked over at me, watching me intently.

"Yes, Flare?" she asked.

"Well, you know how you kinda teleported in and saved our flanks from Tenebrae in the middle of the battle?"

Celestia nodded.

"Well, when you teleported away with him, Luna and I, we…" I stopped, feeling my throat go dry. It's hard to talk about this stuff! "We kinda…"

Luna decided to finish the statement for me.

"Flare and I are in love."

Well, when you say it like that…

Celestia arched her eyebrow again, her expression unreadable.

"Are you, now?"

Luna nodded, a determined look on her looked from her, to me, then back again, and finally broke into a small smile.

"Well, it's about time, you two. I was wondering when you two would just fess up to the other."

Luna blinked, but looked at me and smiled. I grinned back.

"So, we have your approval?" I asked.

Celestia nodded.

"You do. I daresay, I think it's about time Luna found herself a special somepony.

Luna went pink, but I smiled somewhat resumed walking toward the courtyard. I hustled on up by Celestia.

"So, why me? Why not somepony else?" I asked.

She considered the matter, but she did not take long to respond.

"When I first asked you to help Luna adjust to normal life here, I knew the two of you would become good friends, but I'll be honest. Back then, I didn't expect this. But after about that first month or so, I noticed you two had really taken to each other, and I had learned enough about you to know that you were someone I would trust my sister's life with. But when I saw the two of you out practicing cloud-moving, and I saw the look on her face as she watched you struggle to move one at an average speed, it just sort of clicked that you were just… well, right for her. And that's not to mention the constant bickering. You two argue like you're already married."

"Hey! He starts it!" Luna piped up from behind us.

"Do not! You chip in your fair share a lot of the time," I said back to her.

"See what I mean?" Celestia asked, giving me an amused, and yet annoyed look.

Luna cantered on up to us as we made our way into what I assumed was once the Entrance Hall.

[B]

"Where do you suppose Lux is?" she asked, looking sighed as she said, "I honestly haven't the slightest idea."

Luna spoke up, sounding somewhat impatient.

"Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way. If one of us finds something, we'll teleport to the other, and let them know."

"Umm, I can't teleport," I said, irritated by her forgetting this.

"Right. So, who are you going to stay with?" asked Celestia.

I rolled my eyes. Didn't we just get finished having a conversation about how her sister and I were in love? I cantered on over by Luna, who gave a bit of a satisfied smile, but she quickly turned around and cantered on toward a crumbling tower. I saw brief concern flash over Celestia's face before I turned away to follow her.

I didn't know where to go, so I simply let her lead on. She led me up a flight of stairs, which came out in a room where the wall had crumbled outward, letting the sunlight illuminate it. As I took a moment to look around the room, I saw that the placement of all of the objects looked strangely familiar…I looked over at a ruined bed, and I had a brief thought of a dark blue blanket draped over it, followed by me looking up to see a small crescent-shaped hole in the wall, right above the headboard.

She had led me to her room.

When she saw that I had figured it out, she walked up next to me.

"My room in Canterlot was made to replicate my room here. Everything is in its exact place, just like it had been. However, there are a few notable differences. For one, the sapphire used to shine brilliantly whenever I was still fit to wield the Elements of Harmony, and now it is little more than an ordinary gemstone."

I looked over at a large space over by where my absolute favorite part of her room normally sat, and I noticed there was nothing there.

"What about your pipe organ?" I asked.

It's true; she has a really nice and large pipe organ in her room. More than once, when her duties permitted it, I would visit her room in the night when she wasn't on her throne. She would often be found playing it, and she sounded _good._

There's this one song she plays that I immediately seem to associate with "Haunted House," and she seems to have had a lot of time to practice, because there are no mistakes, as far as I can tell. She had sheet music sitting on the stand above the keys, and I took one look at it, and I learn I can read music.

Back to the pipe organ…

She giggled.

"I knew you'd ask that. I had that brought in a few weeks after I moved in to Canterlot. See, back when I…" she stopped for a moment, "back when I was banished, I had to find a way to occupy myself for a thousand years. Nightmare Moon couldn't control me for long periods of time, so she would often leave me on my own. I needed something to do, and Nightmare Moon had built a castle on the moon, and had a pipe organ in the Royal Bedchamber, so I just sort of started playing by ear. Then, Cognitum showed me how to read music, so I started learning based on what sheet music she provided. My personal favorite was Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, written by Johoof Sebastian Bach. It's that one you constantly find me playing."

Oh. Catchy name for an organ song. "Haunted House Music" still sounds more fitting.

"Did you just want to show me your old room?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I didn't mind spending time with her, but I'm kinda anxious about meeting Lux, and I really want to hurry up and meet her.

She looked sheepish, but she nodded.

"I thought it would be something you'd like to see," she explained, sounding a little disappointed. "Well, that's part of the reason. The second is…"

She cantered over to where I was standing, by the moon-shaped hole. Her horn flashed, and there came the sound of stone moving against stone underneath us.

"Back before the Elements were moved outside, and back before the Fires of Friendship were sustained in the sky," she continued, "we had to safeguard them from potential threats while Equestria grew. The Fires of Friendship grew more powerful the longer the land survived, considering how many ponies continued to live here, until it became too powerful to contain in one place, so we set it loose in the skies, and there it remains. Up until just before Nightmare Moon took control, the Elements of Harmony were kept in another basement. Tia kept guard over them, and I over the Fires."

With a great crunch, the wall with the crescent-shaped hole collapsed away, revealing a long, dark pit.

"Now then, you first," she said, giving me a trollish grin.

I peered over the edge cautiously, all too aware of the fact that it is DARKER THAN BUCKING TENEBRAE! and I had no idea how far down it went.

/[B]\

*Shove*

And now I'm freefalling down the hole in the ground. Note to self: clop Luna to the back of the head when we get to the bottom of this pit.

Funnily enough, she zoomed right by me, diving at a tremendous speed. As much as I trusted her to know where she was going, I still hung back a few meters.

Good thing too. She pulled out of the dive a tad too late, and she ended up hitting the ground in a completely ungraceful manner, if you catch my drift.

I landed quite lightly on the hard dirt and raised my eyebrows at her, a smug grin on my face. She gave me an irritated stare and blinked.

"I've grown since the last time I made that jump," she said, getting to her hooves, and avoiding my eye.

"Uh-huh."

"I suppose I flew down faster than I was used to—"

"Yeah."

"-and I pulled out too late because I was too used to-"

"Whatever helps you sleep."

I cantered on by her, then clopped her to the back of the head on my way past.

She gave an agitated groan, then glared at me while I still grinned smugly at her. However, despite her supposed agitation, she couldn't keep a straight face.

"It was still lots of fun! I don't remember the last time I did that!"

"Yeah, it was fun watching you face-plant harder than I would have on that wall if Rainbow Dash hadn't caught me."

She gave me another annoyed look, but cantered on beside me and slipped a wing around me. An aura shone around her horn, and a beam of light filled the hallway we were now exploring. The hallways were made of stone, like the castle, only these seemed much less decayed than the ones above ground.

The hallway was not as long as I thought it would be. However, much more interesting in the hallway were several small murals along the wall that detailed many of the threats to Equestria. One mural depicted several black, insect-like creatures, which Luna explained had been the Changelings (I hadn't the time to study Equestria history, so when it coincided with whatever weather magic I was going to learn, Luna would provide a crash course). Another mural depicted a strange, serpentine creature with an antler, a horn, and several different features on his skin. Luna called him Discord and told me about what he had done during her lecture the night we met.

But then I turned and saw the third of the murals. This one depicted several normal ponies. Some were Earth ponies, some were Pegasi, and some were unicorns. But all were being struck by the Elements of Harmony as the two princesses used them."Those were the Insurrection, led by a particularly troubled firebrand of a leader, a unicorn by the name of Storm Tumble. That's him, there," she added, indicating a crème colored unicorn with a red I had another vision appear to me.

_A man dressed in a leather jacket, wearing a black, white, and grey cross-stitched bunnet was staring at me with green eyes set in an unreadable expression. He had long red hair that reached down to his shoulders, and he-_

"Flare? Are you alright?"

I shook myself out of my reverie.

"I'm fine. I just saw something else. A man. A human, and he kinda stood and acted like Tenebrae. Also, why am I seeing these things?"

So as we continued down the hallway, I told her what little of the man I had been able to pay attention to, as well as some speculation.

"I think my memory's starting to come back."

She said nothing, but she kept moving. We soon found ourselves at a sharp, ninety degree turn to the right.

And suddenly, let there be light!

A very bright light filled a round room, and thanks to us being in a dark hallway for the past few moments, my eyes had adjusted somewhat, and I had to look away for a moment.

When I looked back, I beheld Lux standing there, looking at the two of us with a blank expression, but her eyes seemed focused on the wing draped over me at the present. She seemed indifferent by it, if a little surprised by this recent turn. It was hard to tell from her unreadable expression.

The wing vanished suddenly, and with a pop, Luna teleported as she went to go and retrieve her sister.

"We meet again, Flare Dancer," she said simply, still staring at me.

"Uh, hello there," I said. What else was I supposed to say?

Lux stared at me for a moment, then smiled slightly.

"We have little to discuss today, not the least of which is that little matter of you and the Princess of the Night having developed a certain amount of affection for each other. And I am aware of the fact that you are aware of the potential risks that can come from this sort of relationship. However, what little we have to talk about is of great importance."

Well, so much for waiting for Luna to get back with Celestia.

"Well, since you seem aware of all of what we talked about on our way here, what do you have to say about it?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

With a pop, Luna and Celestia appeared in the room. Lux gave them the briefest of glances before looking back to me.

"I am not one to meddle in the affairs of a romance, but I advise caution, which you seem to be taking very seriously, despite your obvious aversion to being serious about things."

I blinked rather rapidly. Was I acting that blatantly out of character?

"However, I have no objections. Now then, to our main orders of business. The first thing that must be addressed is quite simply the situation that exists between you, Flare Dancer, and my brother."

I rolled my eyes.

"No, I think that can wait until after we talk about why you made me a black pony with a red mane," I quickly remarked in a normal tone of voice, however the undertone was dripping with sarcasm.

Luna elbowed me.

"I did not make you this way. It was influenced by what you were wearing when you were transported here, and now that your appearance has been set, you will always bear this form when you are in Equestria."

Damn it. While the black coat was useful, the red mane wasn't. If Tenebrae attacked me at night, I'd be able to hide just fine with the black coat, but the red mane would be a dead giveaway. Besides, I kinda wish I could have given myself green hair. That would look so awesome!

"Sarcasm and non-issue aside, he gave you a rough explanation for how the situation with you works. There was nothing you could have done to stop him from using you, and even if you were to leave in some way, you would not be able to stop him from using some other being from your world."

But I didn't want to know any of that. I wanted to know why he wanted Equestria so badly.

"Why?" I asked.

She looked at me confused.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why does Tenebrae want this world so badly? Aren't there other worlds he can have?"

Lux nodded.

"There are, but this is literally the only world where, up until now, he has had no direct influence. While he may have been able to work events to his favor in the past, he himself could not enter this world to conquer it. For that is what he desires: total control. Tenebrae and I have been fighting a cosmic battle for millennia now, and he is starting to gain the upper hand. Our father, Aequivalere, was once able to hold the two of us in perfect balance, but he is losing his power, and Tenebrae is slowly gaining strength.

"His first efforts to take a world came from what had once been a joint effort on our part. We created a world where we could nurture life and watch it grow. That world was your Earth, Flare. Through the years, I would be the one to watch over the light, the day, and all that goes with it. He, however, received the darkness as his domain. But what turned him from a once-benevolent deity into the being he is today is the same thing that affected you, Luna. He was jealous of what I had received.

"He did not mind the fact that they slept during the night, or anything, for night provides its own beauties: the stars, the aurora borealis, the moon itself, and dreams. What made him jealous was the fact that, while it was scarce in my domain, evil was rampant in his. Eventually, the overwhelming amount of evil in the darkness began to shift his view of the universe. Now, to him, darkness and evil are one and the same, and since we at the time were held in balance, I was forced to align myself with the counterbalance: good. When this happened, he began to create wars, with the intent of stamping out the good in the Earth, to make it his completely.

"He finally managed to gain total control of the Earth, but only after I left. I left and I created this world, and I made it completely free of his influence, and I erected spells and enchantments into the fabric of this world to keep him out. As he explained to you, he succeeded in breaking those."

And all this led up to him shoving me into this world, and using me as a bit of a butter-soaked rag to grease up the crevice so he could slip in.

"I am glad to see you understand the situation."

And she can still hear my thoughts.

Before either of us could continue, Luna stepped forward.

"When I heard you speak to me while I was battling Tenebrae, I noted to Flare that your voice sounded familiar. I've heard it somewhere before. Where, exactly?"

And here, Celestia stepped forward too.

"I also have noticed that, but I don't recall ever hearing it. Your voice is definitely one I know that I have heard, but I don't know where or when. Please explain to us why it is so."

Lux looked at both of them for a moment, but she broke into a small smile.

Light flashed around her, and where Lux had been standing, there was now an alicorn larger than the three of us. It had a white coat, with a silvery sheen to it, and a golden mane.

"Children, I thought you would recognize the voice of your own mother."

Cue three simultaneous jaw-drops.

"M- mother!" asked Celestia disbelievingly.

"Mama!" gaped Luna.

"Oh god, she'll be my future mother-in-law…" I mumbled.

_**I heard that.**_

She cantered down to the three of us.

"Yes, it is true. I am your mother. Not by any biological standard, no. I created you as foals when the world first began, back when the three races first started to establish themselves. You don't remember this because it has been a very long time since it happened, and nothing dulls memories like time. I couldn't just create two fully-grown beings and set them up as the rulers of this world. I had that desire to still nurture life, and so I created the two of you and raised you as my daughters."

"Got any embarrassing baby pictures?" I asked, smirking. Luna and Celestia both gave me very irritated looks.

Lux allowed herself a chuckle.

"None that I am able to share, but these two were a source of absolute happiness for me. I was so saddened to see them go, but I knew that they would have to do their duties well, and they have."

She looked back to me.

"And speaking of memories, as well as duties, it is time for me to fulfill mine. When Tenebrae tried to push you into this world, we met for the first time. Only, your name was not Flare Dancer, and you still had a memory."

I liked where this was going. Was I finally going to get it back?

"I told you personally that you were now the only one capable of stopping the one who brought you here. In the end, I was the one who took your memory from you, and I will now restore them to you."

[C]

Her horn flashed. A bright light filled the room, blinding me to all suddenly, things are flashing inside my head. Too many to keep track of!

I- I remember! I remember everything!

My hobbies, my little garage in a Boston alleyway, all the video games I played, my motorcycle, my parents-

My parents.

The poison in the cupcake

I don't have parents. Not anymore. I'm an orphan, and I had completely forgotten about one of the biggest events in my life.

The sirens of the ambulances, and the paramedics and cops attempting to sort out the situation; the throbbing scrape on my forehead and the deep, burning on my cheek; the smell of gasoline that leaked from the busted fuel tank, just moments before the the ignition spark triggered the explosion that gave my arm a severe burn that didn't heal for months; and worst of all, the doctor telling me that my parents had died, and that my sister was in critical condition, and that she probably wouldn't make it.

I had run from the scene. I ran to a near-by alleyway, close to Yawkey Way, within view of the lights of Fenway Park, and I huddled against a wall, sobbing to myself while the sounds of the oblivious fans watched the game.

And then the look on his face later that day.

When he saw me, sitting on the side of a street, sobbing to myself. That pity, and recognition, as he saw something in me that I didn't quite understand. "Wha' happened t'yeh?" he had asked, his lilting Irish accent devoid of the emotions I saw in his eyes. I had answered, explaining that my parents had died in a car accident, during the trip to a Red Sox game as a birthday present. He had been silent for a moment, but then he knelt down beside me, offered a hand, and then started to care for me himself. I had only been eleven when all of this had my birthday, of all days, on the very trip they had promised as a present.

I returned my focus to the here and now. I'll have more time to think about that later, when I'm not in the presence of a deity.

Speaking of a deity, Lux had stepped back from me, her face having reverted back to an impassive expression. She and her daughters had been watching me intently for the past few moments.

"Well, Jack Thomas, what do you remember?"

Jack Thomas… I had forgotten my own name. Isn't that pathetic? I still like Flare Dancer better, though. It's more unique. I much prefer it to Jack, since I know at least four Jacks, and three of them and I interacted on a weekly basis together.

I caught Luna staring at me apprehensively, looking very much worried. And I can't say I blame her. I know where I'm from now, but I don't know whether or not I'm able to go back.

_**You can't yet. At least, not permanently. There is one pony who is able to traverse the walls of each universe-**_

Doctor bucking Whooves!

_**Ah, you remember being a fan of his television show. Yes, he will be able to take you back to Earth, but you will have to return, if nothing else than because Tenebrae will find some way to provoke you into doing so, and he does not respect peoples' or ponies' wishes when it comes to leaving loved ones alone.**_

I didn't like the sound of that.

"Would you like to see what you look like as a human?" she asked, more to Luna and Celestia than to me, but all three of us nodded nodded.

"Right. Well, you have an ability that both I and Tenebrae have, in that you are able to regularly switch forms to fit in with a world. It is what comes with crossing over to a different world. The Doctor has this ability in some cases as well. What you need to do is simply will yourself to return to whatever form it is you want to be."

Will myself to be a human again? Sounds easy enough. Ok, I want to be a human again.

With a flash of fire, I suddenly felt my body change. I felt fingers and toes, as well as feet and hands. And being on all fours was uncomfortable, so I stood up.

All of my human nerves felt like they hadn't been used in months.

Which, I suppose, they hadn't.

I looked around myself. I was wearing a black T-shirt, and jeans, with tennis shoes. Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. I looked back up to see a small mirror that Lux had conjured.

I was fair-skinned, slightly darker than Tenebrae and Lux, but still rather pale, with hollow cheeks, a slightly prominent chin, and blue eyes. I had a small scar on my cheek from the car wreck, but other than that, I was unblemished. Overall, my facial structure kinda matched my pony facial structure. Well, apart from all the damage I had taken during the battle, which seemed to have transferred over to my human form as well.

Oh, and I'm a natural ginger too, which is a perfectly logical explanation for why I had a red mane. Looks like I won't have any problems with Dementors for the foreseeable future! But it might disappoint a certain Doctor…

Oh! I forgot how big of a Whovian I was! And a Potterhead, among other things. But it also strikes me that, with all kinds of irony, I was a non-brony who found himself here in Equestria. I did know about the fandom, but I had never really felt like following it. Guess now I have to find some way to get access to the Internet and do my research. And in the process, I have to avoid all the bronies that I could encounter. Man, I bet some people aware of my situation are all kinds of pissed off.

"Just wondering, but why exactly do I have to transform in fire? That's a little cliché and Mary-Sue-ish, don't you think?" I asked Lux, raising an eyebrow.

She chuckled.

"It is directly tied to your cutie mark, a small flame. While Tenebrae and I have none, we are the embodiments of light and darkness. Naturally, that aura is what surrounds us when we transform. As for the Doctor, I have no idea. He is always in his TARDIS when he transforms, if he even transforms at all."

"I prefer your other form," Luna commented, taking us off-topic.I gave her a sympathetic smile, then decided I wanted to be a pony. I kinda preferred it, too. I mean, I can fly as a Pegasus!

And in another flash of fire, I was once again Flare Dancer.

"Well, Jack Thomas-" Lux started to say, but I interrupted her.

"Lux, my name is Flare Dancer."

She stopped midsentence, then closed her mouth with a small smile.

"Admirable, though your devotion to my daughter and this land is, you must come to terms that your name is not Flare Dancer, and in reality is Jack Thomas. And before I forget, you have my thanks for fighting Tenebrae today, despite your clear disadvantage. Your courage was admirable. For the moment, all I can do is replenish your strength."

Her horn flashed again, and I felt energy returning to me. I looked all over, and I saw that all of my scrapes, cuts, and the like were healing completely. Once the light from her horn vanished, I gave a small laugh.

"Thanks. I feel much better."

Lux nodded at me, acknowledging my thanks. She then turned to Luna and Celestia.

"Daughters, I know we have only just reunited, but until Tenebrae is defeated, I cannot suspend my duties simply for pleasure. When he is defeated, there will be time for talk and for catching up, but for now, I must bid you good-bye. However, take heart. We will meet again."

Luna had a small tear trickle down, but I reached up and rubbed it away, draping a wing around her as I did so. Celestia, however, was able to keep it entirely together. I suppose sending your sister to the moon does harden oneself to loss, although she seemed to know it would not be long before they would see each other again.

Lux raised a hoof in farewell, and she vanished into little dots of light.

Celestia immediately nodded, turned, and cantered on over to both of us.

"Let's go, you two."

And that familiar feeling of vanishing from one place and reappearing somewhere else (which now I can remember the comparison, does feel a lot like Apparition from _Harry Potter_) occurred, and I found myself standing on a cobblestone road.

Celestia gave a tired sigh."Mother gave me some energy back, but there's only so much a goddess can give back to a near-equal," she half-laughed in spite of herself.

I, however, had been completely saturated by that recent development, and my usual habit of constantly moving from place to place was as strong as ever, and also as usual, Luna seemed irritated. I think it may have been because I was flying in circles around her, instead of sitting down at her side with a wing draped around her. Things came to a head when we started actually climbing Canterlot Mountain on the path, where she finally lost what little patience she had.

**_"STOP FLYING AND STAND STILL UNTIL WE GET BACK TO THE BLOODY CASTLE, FOR BUCK'S SAKE!"_**

I gave her a pouty look as I flew on down to stand next to her. Suddenly I realize, Lux must have filled me up extra-full of energy. I remember what Luna said about me plus coffee earlier, and now I see what she meant.

Celestia gave me a small smile when Luna rolled her eyes.

Well, I suppose now's as good a time to have some fun as ever.

"Aww, but Woona, you neveh wet me have any fun!" I pouted, giving my best attempt at puppy-dog eyes at her.

Not even Luna could resist those. She fought the urge to smile, before finally facehoofing and giving a small laugh.

"I see that despite your memory returning, you haven't changed a bit," she commented, sounding somewhat relieved.

"What, did you expect me to be someone else after I got it back?" I rolled her eyes, and we continued ascending the mountain. It was an enjoyable walk, if a bit slow, due to the fact that the two sisters were tired, and they were taking the opportunity to canter slowly. And it was only the early afternoon.

We finally passed a small ridge on the mountain, and the town could be seen in the distance, which I immediately started to dash toward. I was craving food, and that deli I had eaten at with Celestia my second day in Canterlot was sounding really good right about now.

Only, despite how strong my wings may be, the combination of Luna's teeth and her magic was even stronger. I was yanked back to her before I had even gone five feet.

"We need to go back to the castle first. We have some explaining to do to the Royal Guard about the current situation. After that, you are free to continue your daily life," Celestia explained as I was levitated alongside the both of them, frowning all the way.

We passed the path that split off and went toward the town and walked up to the Castle (I floated). We passed the gates, and immediately, guardsponies started to shut them. Captain Squall flew on down and started cantering beside us.

"Are you alright, Princesses?" he immediately of them nodded, and Luna lost concentration on her magic. Or she purposefully stopped it. In either case, I ended up face-planting because I didn't expect it. I got back to my hooves and started to canter on inside. My "Pony-Senses" were picking up one pony inside the Entry Hall, but I paid it no mind (if it's Cordon Bleu, I am definitely in the mood for a sandwich). If nothing else, I can just take a nice, long path and relax for the rest of the day. No more fighting!

WHAM!

Suddenly, I'm tackled sideways with the force of a bullet. I slam onto the black-and-white tiled, polished, stone floor, flailing to get whatever was holding me down off of me. All I caught was a brief flash of navy-blue and-

Oh buck all kinds of duck. It's Frigoris.

I kicked him off, leapt to my hooves, and looked right at him, infuriated.

"What the hell was that!" I yelled at him. His snarl could not have gotten any deeper than it was already. He was _pissed._

"The hell do you want, Frigoris?" I shouted at him.

He scoffed.

"I said I'd have some words for you, though I changed my mind. How dare you put our princess in mortal peril?"

I take back what I said about not fighting. Looks like I'm in for one here.

I shifted into a fighting stance.

"If you have something other than words planned, I think you'd best be coming and getting some," I challenged.

[D]

He pawed the ground, and that was the only warning I received. I immediately lunged to the side, missing him as he shot right where I had been, colliding with a marble wall.

He seemed to have suffered no damage from the hit. Instead, he got right back up and started to fly at me slower, but still fast enough to keep me on guard.

I had to use every bit of dodging ability I had just to avoid getting hit. And I thought Tenebrae was bad. At least he took time to enjoy the fight. It gave me time to stay away from him. Friggy, on the other hand, was giving me no time to react or to get my bearings.

I leapt to the side again as I felt a slight breeze of air blow right where I had just been. I can't keep this up for very long.

-X-

A crash sounded from inside the castle. I raised my head, alert for any signs of danger. My sister raised her head as well, as did Squall. The three of us immediately galloped into the Entry Hall, where I was met with a rather shocking site.

I knew they disliked each other, but I didn't believe for a second that Flare and Frigoris would hate each other to the point of attack!

On second thought, Frigoris attacking, and Flare simply dodging, and generally getting out of the way. The fact that he's doing this well at avoiding hits surprises me. Nightmare Moon had made the Nightmares incredibly proficient at combat, even a mite beyond normal talent.

Tia and I were about to leap into action to stop the two of them, but Squall held out a hoof, watching the fight intently.

Tia gave him a disapproving look, but I knew she valued his input. He had served Equestria, even before I was banished. He may look older than me, but he's still a few centuries younger.

"Let them blow off the steam. They're in no mood to stop. I am sure they will not cause each other any lasting damage, and if it gets too rough, I will not hesitate to down them both. But trust me when I say you'd only be making it worse by stopping this fight."

I was about to protest. I mean, Nightmare Frigoris should not be acting like this. He knows I have a higher expectation of him, and to think that he wants to at least seriously injure MY Flare! But Tia gave me a sharp look. She trusted Squall, and it's not that I don't, but it's just that's my coltfriend getting beaten up!

And speaking of Flare, he seems to be handling this rather well. I suppose the Captain is right. They both need to blow off the steam. I'm just glad he isn't attacking back.

I take that back. Now he's tackling Frigoris into the ground.

I'm going to have words for him, too. And I'll make sure they're loud ones. I know how much he loves the Royal Canterlot Voice.

We backed away from them, opting to go to the top of the mezzanine in order to stay out of the way, and at the same time, staying within range to go separate them if necessary.

Fire suddenly surrounded Flare. He was shifting into his human form. I think I may understand why. Now that he remembers, he would have a much easier time fighting in styles he's used to. But it gives him the disadvantage that he can't fly.

He's in trouble either way. May as well pick the style that's helped in the past.

Frigoris launched right at him, but instead of dodging, Flare managed to catch Frigoris, fall onto his back, and use all the momentum caused by the tackle to kick Frigoris up. Frigoris was out of control, and he smashed right through a wall!

Through a wall! A marble wall!

Well, it was rather thin, but that still doesn't change the fact that Flare seems to know what he's doing and that Frigoris is striking to maim and seriously injure.

Frigoris looked absolutely shocked by this recent turn of events, but that seemed to only make him angrier. He leapt up, using his wings to jump higher than normal. At the peak of the jump, he reared a hoof back, and started to dive right at Flare, who looked like he had something planned.

But what Flare didn't see were the small sparks forming around Frigoris' punching hoof. I hadn't taught Flare those abilities yet. He was nowhere near advanced enough. I mean, he had only yesterday made it rain consistently, albeit forcefully.

Flare leapt back just as Frigoris made contact with the ground. He obviously did not expect the absolute shockwave of damage that came from the attack Frigoris had just demonstrated.

Several chunks of the ground, and mind you these were rather large ones, were sent flying into the air several feet, before raining down. Flare dodged left and right, weaving away from the boulders before they crushed him, but he couldn't dodge them all. He stepped away from one, only to have one land right in front of him, the force of which knocking him back into the one he had just dodged.

Frigoris had leapt back and watched the entire show while Flare had attempted to dodge the rocks, and when the "show" was finished, he cantered on over to Flare, who was breathing heavily on the ground, but not totally out.

Frigoris knelt down to whisper something probably a taunt or an insult into Flare's ear. However, the next move surprised me. While he was kneeling down, Flare reached up and shoved Frigoris' face into the ground, whirled himself up into a kneeling position, and kicked Frigoris into another outcropping of wrecked Entry Hall.

Frigoris hadn't even recovered yet when Flare was already down at him. Flare knocked Frigoris' helmet off, revealing Frigoris' midnight blue mane, which he yanked up to his level. Frigoris was brought up to eye level, where Flare was smirking. Frigoris swung wildly, but missed, catching him off-balance.

"Heh, you need to learn to understand your opponents, Friggy," Flare said in a slightly mocking tone of voice. "You know I'm not that great a fighter, much less able to stand up to a soldier with nearly a thousand years of combat practice and experience. So, the only logical way to solve that is to _fight dirty_."

Flare then tossed Frigoris away by the mane. Frigoris managed to right himself in midair, but it seems Flare already knew that would happen. Flare dashed under Frigoris and grabbed his tail.

It seems he learned from fighting Tenebrae, because he's starting to use Tenebrae's own tactics against other opponents. He started to swing Frigoris around, and around. Frigoris, naturally, attempted to fight him, but he was failing miserably. Flare then let go, sending Frigoris flying right into another pillar.

Frigoris jumped up, enraged.

"Well then, I suppose since you can only do this well on the ground, I may as well take this fight to the air," he said, grinning malevolently, and taking off.

Flare narrowed his eyes, but suddenly, they widened ever so slightly. He had figured something out.

In another flash of fire, he had turned back into a Pegasus. He flapped his wings and started to fly up-

Strike that. He just face-planted. This would be funny if it weren't my coltfriend and my most loyal servant duking it out.

"Damn it, not used to flying as soon as I transform," he commented dryly before taking off.

The Entry Hall is about a hundred-fifty feet tall, and Flare and Frigoris were hovering near the top of it.

"This technique is something I borrowed from someone else. It's called the Primary Lotus!" he announced loudly, his gaze fixed on Frigoris.

Flare motioned his hooves. "Come at me, bro," he said with a smirk. It dawned on me that he was deliberately trying to goad Frigoris into attacking him. While I know Flare has turned Frigoris' early attack on him before, this will not end well either way.

At once, I turned to Squall and told him "Get ready. We have to stop them soon. They aren't going to let up."

Squall nodded immediately.

Frigoris snarled and shot right at him. Flare stood his ground, waiting for his chance to strike. But rather than moving out of the way, he caught Frigoris, trapping his wings, and wrapping Frigoris up with his hooves and his wings. They started to plummet, but rather than abandon the flight, Flare started to barrel roll on the way to the ground.

When they were feet away, Squall managed to tackle them sideways, blasting them apart, and sending them flying to opposite sides of the room. Flare slid several feet away, before hitting another rock, while Frigoris stopped in front of the main doors. Squall chose to go after Flare.

As soon as he took off, I ran in front of Frigoris, using my magic to hold him down while he struggled to break free.

/[D]\

"Geroff me! Princess, I beg you to let me-," he started, but I cut him off.

**_"FRIGORIS, THAT IS ENOUGH!"_** I shouted at him. His struggling ceased immediately. He knew he was in deep horse apples.

"I am going to have some words for you when we're done here, and trust me when I say, you won't enjoy them."

He nodded, stiff-necked. He had reverted to his usual expression of focused indifference, bordering on apathy.

Flare, on the other hand, was putting up a monumental struggle against Squall.

"Let me at him! I'm not done with him yet!"

I looked over to where he was, not bothering to hide my disappointment in him, which didn't seem to have any effect. He kept struggling away. One moment he nearly clipped Squall under the chin, but Squall's expertly-timed dodge allowed him to avoid it.

Finally, fed up with fighting Flare, Squall turned to me. I knew what he was asking for, so I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"What are you- Luna, what's he doing?" asked Flare, still struggling.

I looked over at him and blinked, irritated by this recent turn of events. Guess who was going to have to clean up this mess? Yep, me and Tia. And our magic is rather lacking at the moment, so we're going to have to put up with this mess until at least tomorrow.

"When you wake up, we're going to have ourselves a nice little chat, understand?"

Squall raised a hoof to Flare's midsection. Flare stopped struggling for a minute.

"When I wake up?"

Squall then charged the electricity through his hoof, effectively tasing Flare into unconsciousness. Flare convulsed a bit, but he was soon out like a light.

I sighed and picked him up with magic. I was going to take him to his room and leave him there until he woke up.

Squall got off of him, shuffled his wings a bit, then cantered on over to Tia.

"I'm sorry Princess, but I'm going to need the rest of the day to myself. My recent forays against Tenebrae and now Flare and Frigoris have left me aching all over, and I regret that I'm not as fit as I used to be."

"Nonsense, Captain," said Tia, looking surprised. "You're as strong as ever, if nothing else in heart and mind rather than physically, but if you feel you need the day, take it."

Squall nodded and cantered on to his quarters. I followed him to the room where the paths split, and I took Flare up to his room, laid him on his bed, and proceeded to walk out, closing the door behind me.

This day has been nothing short of hectic. And I know what I can do to relax my currently on-edge attitude. I haven't played my organ in a few days, I suppose I could use some practice.

-X-

"Wha-? Where am I?"

I bolted upright, looking around wildly for Frigoris. I swear, that bucktard's going to get it this time.

But I behold not the Entry hall, but my own bedroom. My senses feel like no one is nearby. And my chest hurts like hell.

I fell back against my pillow, sighing heavily. The last thing I remember is being in the middle of using Rock Lee's Primary Lotus against him, and then… nothing.

A slight popping noise, the sound of rustling feathers, and the familiar feeling, like a pencil being held point-first just above the skin told me that someone had decided to pay me a visit.

"How are you feeling?" asked Luna's voice gently, and sounding slightly concerned.

I yawned, sat up again, and looked at her.

"Honestly? I feel like shit," I said, stretching.

She said nothing, merely watching me closely.

"I mean, I can't remember what put me out, and I have a really achy feeling in my chest. Care to enlighten me? You were watching the fight, after all."

She blinked, still opting to say nothing.

And it was really starting to tick me off.

"Are you mad at me or something?"

She blinked again, but this time, she felt like deigning me with a response.

"Mad? Am I mad that you couldn't keep your displeasure with my most trusted guard on cordial terms!"

Oh, here we go.

"Am I mad that you felt compelled to hurt him with your little flowery-spinny-technique! Oh no, I'm not mad! **_I'M FURIOUS WITH THE TWO OF YOU!"_**

Somehow I knew it was going to come to the RCV. I just knew it.

_**"YOU TWO ARE THE TWO PONIES I TRUST MOST IN THE WORLD, EVEN MORE THAN MY OLDER SISTER! I CAN'T HAVE YOU BOTH FIGHTING EACH OTHER! WHY ON EQUESTRIA WOULD YOU ATTACK-"**_

"I DIDN'T ATTACK HIM! HE ATTACKED ME!"

She froze mid-sentence, before closing her mouth, and gesturing at me to continue.

"I walked inside, everything was fine, I was completely minding my own business and planning to go and relax for the rest of the day and he BUCKING TACKLED ME OUT OF NOWHERE AND STARTED TO BEAT THE LIVING HELL OUT OF ME! WHAT THE BUCK ELSE WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO! TAKE IT? SIT THERE POLITELY AND LET HIM WHALE ON ME?"

She said nothing, but she still looked pretty mad.

"AND WHEN THE THREE OF YOU WALTZ ON INSIDE, INSTEAD OF SEPARATING US, YOU, YOUR SISTER, AND CAPTAIN AWESOME JUST WATCH THE WHOLE SHOW! I WAS WAITING ON YOU TO INTERVENE! WHY DIDN'T YOU? IF THAT HAD GONE ON ANY LONGER THAN IT DID, THE PRIMARY LOTUS WOULD LIKELY HAVE OBLITERATED HIM!"

She opened her mouth, closed it, then reconsidered and started to speak again, only the RCV was gone.

"He thought the two of you should blow off the steam. He said he'd leap right on in if things started to get out of hoof."

"OUT OF HOOF? OUT OF HOOF? WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT LITTLE STUNT WITH THE LIGHTNING PUNCH? IS THAT NOT OUT OF HOOF? HOW THE BUCK DID HE DO THAT ANYWAY? I COULD USE ANY HELP I COULD WHEN IT COMES TO FIGHTING, BECAUSE OTHERWISE, I CAN'T FIGHT A CERTAIN DICKISH DEMIGOD WHO WANTS TO BEAT MY WEAK ASS! I NEED TO KNOW ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING THAT CAN HELP ME FIGHT THIS GUY, AND YOU COMPLETELY IGNORED THAT ASPECT OF MY-"

**_"LUX DAMN IT, FLARE! THAT'S ENOUGH!"_**

We both stared at each other angrily for several moments, breathing heavily. While she was furious with me, I could see that I had touched a nerve when criticizing her ability to teach, or rather, her curriculum to use when teaching.

"Let's both just… calm down," I said, keeping my voice as normal as possible, but it still shook a little while I said it.

"I… agree," she said before sighing heavily and climbing up to sit next to me.

I chuckled a bit.

"Not even a day into it and we've already had our first fight," I said.

She gave a small, brief smile, and a slight sniff. I gotta admit, she is rather cute when she's angry. When she's not shouting my room into a mess that'll take several minutes to clean up.

Rest in peace, Sudoku book.

"And probably not the last, but let's try to keep them to a bare minimum in the future, alright?" she asked, raising an eyebrow expectantly.

I, however, cracked a small smile."Sounds good to me."She crawled up to me on my bed and sat down next to me, giving me a slightly coy smile in the process. I leaned back, brushed a few hairs of my mane (which was now in full bedhead mode, and I could have passed for an anime character, might I add) out of my face.

"Did you mean what you said?" I asked suddenly, struck by something she had said in her tirade at me.

She blinked out of confusion.

"Mean what I said about what?"

"Did you mean what you said about how you trust me and Friggy more than your own sister?"

She stared at me for a moment.

"Why wouldn't I?" she finally asked, smiling slightly. "I mean, he's been my most trusted guard for over a thousand years. You, on the other hand, are the only pony who I interact with on a daily basis, apart from the other members of the royal family. But there's also the matter of the thousand years that we spent apart. Tia _changed_ over those thousand years. I couldn't quite place my hoof on what it was, but I definitely knew there was something about her that was different from when I was still… me in the past. I still haven't quite come to terms with that fact yet."

I nodded. I suppose I didn't understand why I wouldn't trust my own sister for any reason, but I'm sure she has hers.

"So tell me, what was that technique you used against Nightmare Frigoris?" she asked, looking at me curiously.

I let out a small laugh.

"That technique is called the Primary Lotus. It's something I borrowed from a manga I once read."

"A what?"

"Graphic novel made in a foreign land, but that's beside the point. In the story, there's this guy who can use that. Part of the reason that's so devastating is because in the process of you spinning, all inner ear function gets directed outward, and unless you have excellent cognitive ability, you're not going to be able to comprehend the ground rushing at you at top speed. I honestly don't know why I used that, because it probably would have hurt both of us very seriously, but it just sort of came into my head that it would be good to use, so I did.

"Now then, how did Frigoris do that thing with the lightning punch?"

Luna sighed heavily.

"_That. _He should not have used the Pegasus magic like that. Pegasus magic is sacred, and should not be used for combat if it can be helped, but you need all the help you can get, like you said. So, for now, I'm going to give you the basics, so you can understand much better, but I'm not giving you explicit details. Understand?"

I nodded.

She got up, conjured her usual blackboard, and had the floating chalk start to draw certain things on the board, starting with a circle, split into three even portions.

"This right here," she said, indicating the pie chart, "is what forms the basis of magical research, and while you may not find too many uses for it yourself, it may help you to understand how it is Pegasi can do what they can, as well as Earth Ponies and Unicorns."

I sat even straighter. I'm going to learn about what causes magic! YES! This is something I've been looking forward to ever since I learned about magic existing here!

"Now then, I'm sure you have heard the expression 'body, mind, and soul,' yes? Well, that is what forms the core of magical research. Each brand of magic stems from one of these categories. I'll start here," she said, indicating one of the three indistinguishable parts of the pie chart. She drew a small symbol on there I recognized as the original symbol of the Earth Ponies.

"Earth Ponies have the brand of magic associated with the body. This is incredibly obvious if you take into account the fact that members of the Apple family, known Earth Ponies, are incredibly strong when compared to Pegasi like Rainbow Dash, or Unicorns like Twilight Sparkle. The magic of the Fires of Friendship and the Elements of Harmony directly affect their physical capabilities, and allow them to have a feel for the earth."

She indicated the second of the three pie chart portions, where she drew the Pegasi's original symbol from their flag.

"Next is the one that pertains to the Pegasi: the mind. While you normally aren't as strong as most Earth Ponies, your magic affects the mind. Your ability to sense what Earth Ponies and Unicorns cannot in terms of energy and the like is common, as is the ability to move clouds, cause rain, and cause lightning. Those are common Pegasus abilities, and it is a core requirement for a Pegasus who intends to work at the Weather Factory. As I told you in your lessons, this magic stems from the ability to sense energy and to directly affect it, though they usually require a conduit like a cloud to manipulate. I'll say more about the things Pegasi can do with their energy later, when my lessons get there. Again, you're not ready for this ability just yet."

She drew the Unicorns' sigil in the final part of the pie chart.

"Last and certainly not least, the Unicorns' magic, which stems from the soul. Their magic is supernatural, and it bends just about every known law of physics that we know of. However, just as the physics of Equestria have certain immutable laws that cannot be broken by anything other than magic, magic itself has certain immutable laws, and they do in fact sort of rely on each other. For example, while you can transfigure the matter around you into something, you cannot create something out of thin air."

I was about to interrupt (as per usual whenever I wanted to mention something snarky, like how she always conjures her chalkboard out of thin air), but she prevented me from doing so.

"Before you ask about my blackboard, I conjure it from the Canterlot Library. And to be honest, I overheard Celestia receiving complaints from Professor Grey Matter from the Manehattan University of Science and Mathematics about how every time he would try to use the chalkboard, it would vanish, turn up a few minutes later, and all the complicated equations would be erased. It's quite irritating, really, that he seems to consider himself slightly higher than me, because when Celestia told him about me taking it, he positively seemed apathetic about it, insisting that I return it."

She paused.

"I'm thinking about keeping it around, just for the fun I could have," she suddenly mused, looking thoughtful.

I started laughing.

"For teh lulz! Luna, you make an excellent troll."

ಠ_ಠ

And suddenly the above expression was on her face.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry. Just a little Internet reference from my world. It's an inside joke with us that whenever someone deliberately trolls other people, they're doing it for laughter at someone else's expense, which we call 'lulz,' L-U-L-Z. And it seems you've picked up that little trait from me while I've been here."

She furrowed her brow.

"Well, I know you're always doing things just for a laugh here and there, but when have you ever had a laugh at someone else's misfortunes?" she asked, which I immediately answered, "Yesterday, plugged Frigoris' bathtub and forced the tap to continue running, flooded his bathroom. Why yes Luna, yes I have done things for teh lulz."

"And also, what is this 'Internet?'"

Now it seems I'm the teacher. Well, while I definitely do not want her anywhere near the Internet for the time being (my only argument is Rule 34), I suppose a little knowledge couldn't hurt.

"Well, the Internet is this sort of connection between people and their little electronic devices. It allows us to share information, communicate around the world, and to pool resources. Because of that, the world as a whole got much closer in terms of relationships, and our species advanced dramatically as a whole. However, as it is with just about everything," oh how true, "some people began to use the internet as a means for exchanging resources of a… disreputable… nature, and it got so bad that when one mentions the internet, it is not uncommon for these materials to be the first thing on someone's mind."

Luna had been paying attention the whole time, seeming very interested.

"I see. So it is a double-edged sword. You grow smarter and closer as a civilization, and yet people do illegal things with it."

I nodded. While Rule 34 isn't illegal, there's still piracy and the like going on. Overall, while it would undoubtedly have its benefits, teh interwebz are not a good thing for Equestria. At least, not for now. Maybe when their species' naiveté in general is significantly less (which I highly doubt will be any time Pinkie Pie is still alive).

"Illegal and legal-yet-wrong by most moral standards. While I think you, your sister, and a few others could probably take it, your culture as a whole? Not a chance."

She suddenly got that look in her eyes as though she had remembered something important.

"I completely forgot! Captain Squall wanted me to pass along a request to you."

I raised an eyebrow, taken aback by this. Captain Amazing wanted something from me?

"He wanted to know if you would meet him tomorrow afternoon after my magic lessons were over in the Training Hall. He says to be prepared for anything."

I let out a small chuckle.

"So, it's not a request. It's a command by the Captain of the Guard, who I don't answer to and he still expects me to follow it."

Luna, it seems, saw this coming, because she immediately had a retort.

"Do you know why your torso is hurting?"

Coincidence that as she said that, the same spot had a spike of pain? I think not. I gave a non-committal grunt. I think I know where this one's going. I rolled my eyes and looked over at the bookshelf, where the pages of my completed puzzles were sitting, occasionally being moved by the wind outside the open window.

"He tased you in the chest with his hoof."

Classic double-take.

"He WHAT me with his hoof?"

Luna ruffled her feathers and blinked.

"I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't know you were deaf too. He tased you with his hoof. Charged you with lightning into unconsciousness. But that's beside the point. He says he wants to show you something, but he was mum on what that would be. Personally, however, I think Tia set this up. In any case, as soon as my magic lessons on how to make it rain are over, you're to go directly to the Guardsponies' Training Hall. Are we clear?"

I nodded, rolling my eyes.

She stared at me for a moment, and suddenly, her gaze softened.

"Are you alright, Flare?" she asked, concerned.

I nodded again. I was alright, but this recent turn of events has really started to take its toll on me. Anyway, on the bright side, I can finally chill for the rest of the day!

What a day to take a rest from. It seems impossible that not even twenty-four hours ago, I was working on Pegasus magic with Luna. Then suddenly, the Harvest Festival gets interrupted, I have a fight with Tenebrae, Luna and I become officially together, Lux tells me what is going on (though something's telling me, not nearly all of what's going on), Friggy and I have a bout of fisticuffs, and I learn the basics of magic.

Given that this all happened in one day, and coupled with Tenebrae's little remark about returning in a few days, I really wonder what my future holds.

But what will come will come. And I'm just gonna have to build a bridge, get over it, and be ready to meet it when it does.

-X-

Blackness.

A sea of blackness, with one small, well-lit area directly at the center.

This area holds nothing of true value, save for a mere game board.

An eight-by-eight field, alternating black and white tiles, and several chiseled onyx and marble pieces were arrayed across the table, the two colors facing the pieces of the other color.

Now this chess board was not set up at the beginning of play, but rather, it was set up in medias res. In progress.

On opposite ends of the board sat two figures on thrones of silver and gold. One of them was male, and the other female. The male wore black, with spiky black and silver hair, and red eyes, and he sat in the silver chair, staring intently at the female, as if gauging a reaction from her. The female wore white, with golden hair and the purest of blue eyes, and she sat in the golden sat, contemplating the table before them, avoiding eye contact with her counterpart.

"Heh, quite a few new pieces have made their debuts since our last little meeting here, sister," said the male, a small smile working its way onto his face.

The female said nothing, and merely nodded.

"Well, I brought one in, and it seems to have deserted my side," he said, indicating one of the White Knights. "Flare makes an excellent knight. The irregular movement and the near-impossibility to trap it make the Knight an excellent wild card unless you are properly prepared, which, I admit, I was not. I daresay he excels at that regard. However, I won't be making that mistake again in the future."

The female remained content to be silent, save that now she stared at the male with a mixture of distaste and some amusement.

"And, in exchange, I suppose making one of your pieces mine would be a fair trade. One of your pieces needs to return to the side he was created to be on," the male said, picking up one of the three White Knights on the board, the one which sat on his right side of the White Queen. The piece that he had indicated earlier, belonging to Flare, was on the other side.

There was a change in the piece he had picked up, and wisps of white smoke flew out of the piece as it became black. The smoke vanished, as if it had never been in the room to begin with. Tenebrae replaced the piece on the board like it had been, except it was now facing Lux rather than him.

"Funny, the effect two people on the same side have on each other, when one is convinced the other is a terrible influence, eh?" he asked, looking at Lux with raised eyebrow.

Once again, Lux remained silent, staring at Tenebrae with an impassive expression.

He held her gaze for a moment, then gave a small chuckle.

"Well then, all the pieces are in place, and the game is finally afoot for the first time in a few months. I was getting quite bored with waiting for everything to fall into place."

He leaned back in his ornate throne of silver, letting out a contented sigh, and now staring intently at his opposite.

"Your move, Lux."

* * *

_And this marks the end of Act I._

_The pieces are set, the main characters introduced to the story, the basic plot has been developed, and now the gambit begins._

_I have a few minor things to point out._

_First off, I made a minor retcon to Cordon Bleu for the purposes of future stories. He is now a unicorn, for those of you who read Chapter 2 much earlier._

_Also, I went ahead and changed the names of the city in Chapter 3 from Fillyattle to Seaddle, since that is its name now, according to canon._

_That reminds me. I have found a map of Equestria, and for all points and purposes of this story, it will be the one I use. It is taken from the Fanfic "Where the World Ends" (which I have never heard of, nor read). You can find it at:_

_Http COLON SLASH SLASH fc07 DOT deviantart DOT net SLASH fs71SLASH f SLASH 2011 SLASH 248 SLASH b SLASH d SLASH equestrian UNDERSCORE and UNDERSCORE beyond UNDERSCORE UNDERSCORE rev UNDERSCORE 7 UNDERSCORE by UNDERSCORE hlissner DASH d46wmzm DOT jpg_

_If you're not smart enough to figure this out on your own, replace the CANTERLOCK words with the symbols they stand for._

_And did anyone else get my reference to the fanfic Progress? For those of you who do not know, Progress is a fic that stars Luna as she attempts to fit in with the new world. In the process, she comes into the possession of an abacus, and it gets to the point where she tucks it in at night, reads it a bedtime story, and even refers to it as Abacus, as if it were a name (to the point where in one fan-chapter, she wonders if Abacus would be an excellent name to call her children). Well, I decided on referencing it and calling it Abby.  
_

_This chapter took me for freaking ever. I could not get it to flow very well, and several times, I have to completely trash it and start over. However, I finally got it done._

_I would also like to add that FF Net's most recent update really pisses me off. It converted my paragraphs into Great Wall of Text when I uploaded it here, and it took me another hour to find where my paragraphs were and reinsert them. Also, it removed several words that were where paragraphs went. Yeah, needless to say, I am NOT happy with FF Net's new system of document uploading.  
_

_The next chapter will be a short little interlude, with a few little short stories, which may or may not have an effect on the story as a whole (you'll just have to wait and see)._ _Ideas for short stories (which will be in the neighborhood of 1K-2K words each) include but are not limited to: The Doctor and Flare visiting earth for no purpose other than for Flare to see his garage in Boston, a short LunaxFlare-centric story, Flare and Squall talking in their little meeting I alluded to, Frigoris and Flare having a nice little civil chat, and Luna chewing out Frigoris for the fight, while the other Nightmares watch._

_No preview for Chapter 7, which is currently nameless, but it does have some semblance of a plot thus far._

_Well, as always, R and R please. And you have a fantastic day._ _Rytex out!_


	6. Interlude

**_A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 6: Interlude_**

_Well, time for the interlude. Officially, this chapter will feature more of the humor and non-seriousness (however much seriousness there ever was) of the story, simply as a bit of a breather chapter. Well, no music here. Just a little chapter of short stories. Please note that these do not go in any particular order. They are meant to be read at any time, and as such, they do not take place one right after the other._

_Allons-y!_

* * *

**_Verbal Reprimand_**

I sighed heavily as I cantered away from Flare's room. There was some business to take care of, now that I had done my part with my coltfriend.

And quite personally, I wanted to get it done as quickly as possible.

So, rather than take the entire walk to my room, I just teleported once I was outside of the Guest Wing. I love being an alicorn with insanely powerful magical abilities. The irrefutable laws of physics are my jump-rope, whenever they don't coincide with the irrefutable laws of thermodynamics.

So I appeared in my room, made sure Abby was nice and cozy up on her mantle, started using my magic to play my usual organ song, which, much to the annoyance of Tia and Squall, could be heard all through the castle. However, this time they earned it. Flare was right. They should have let me act, rather than watch the fight commence like that.

I was about halfway through the song when I decided to go ahead and get this over with.

**_"NIGHTMARES! ASSEMBLE!"_**

The call echoed through the castle. I don't normally use the Royal Canterlot Voice to send out that call, but when I do, they know that something's really got my horn in a knot. And I'm pretty sure they can guess what it is that is irritating me right now.

None of the Nightmares who remain are unicorns. All of them are Pegasi. The only unicorns of the Nightmares had vanished with Nightmare Moon's influence over me when I was struck with the power of the Elements of Harmony. As a result, it took the twelve of them a good few minutes to arrive on my balcony, standing at complete attention in a straight line.

I stared at them for a few seconds.

"Nightmare Frigoris, present yourself," I ordered.

The second Nightmare from the left stepped forward ten steps, halving the distance between him and me, and staring straight ahead at the wall behind me, a discipline that had been burned into his personality when he was created.

"My Princess," he said in his usual flat tone of near-apathy.

I noticed that Crisium was looking at me with a bit of a concerned expression, but once she saw that I had noticed, she quickly reverted to staring straight ahead. I know the two of them are as close as it is possible to be without actually being in love (something Nightmare Moon made sure not to include in the Nightmares' beings, so as to prevent them from becoming distracted by each other, and by any enemies we may have encountered), but she knows she cannot do anything to sway my decision here about Frigoris' punishment.

I started to canter around Frigoris slowly, the way Mama used to do to me and Tia when we did something we shouldn't have.

After I had cantered around him twice, I stopped in front of him, staring into his eyes, which remained fixed on the wall behind me.

"At ease," I said. "I do not want you answering these questions stiffly, like a military stallion would. I want you to answer them as casually and honestly as possible. Are we clear?"

Frigoris relaxed slightly and nodded, but I didn't give him time to indulge

"I will start at the very beginning. That night you two got… acquainted, what was it about Flare that caused you to dislike him so?" I asked in as even a tone as I could keep it, although I did notice it shake slightly with anger.

Frigoris let out a slight snort.

"First and foremost, the complete and utter contempt for your station that he showed, Princess."

I arched an eyebrow.

"Oh? How so?"

He seemed to swell with anger at the memory, for he drew himself up as he continued.

"When we met, he refused to call you by your title. We of the Nightmares are well aware of how lofty this title is, and he treats it, and by extension you, as though it were merely a fancy first name. In the months since, his actions have surpassed my original impressions in terms of his respect for you, but he still does not show you the respect I feel you deserve, given your station and experience."

He watched me cautiously as he finished, but I could tell, he completely believed that he was in the right about Flare, and that he thought Flare was a bad influence.

I took a long breath.

"Nightmare Frigoris, I appreciate your concern. I really do, for one because after a thousand years of trusted service to me, you have shown a fanaticism rarely matched by anypony here toward my sister, let alone me. However, one of the reasons that I enjoy Flare's company so much is because of the reason you have just pointed out. He shows me a courtesy that many ponies fail to when I am near: he is completely casual with me, despite my title, and he treats me like a pony being instead of like someone who could send them to the sun at a moment's notice, which I suppose I can do."

Frigoris opened his mouth to object, but he thought better of it and closed it.

"If he is a bad influence for me, I am sure my sister would have been able to notice it just as well as I would have. And even if I wouldn't have noticed it, I know Tia would never have let someone with such an influence near me once she saw the effects he had on me. I appreciate your concern about him, but your talents were more based around the ability to fight rather than the ability to judge personalities and the effects they have on people."

He lowered his head somewhat sheepishly, although his expression still looked passive and blank.

"Oh, and speaking of fighting, would you care to explain why you attacked him when he entered the castle?"

He let out a "Tch!" and raised his head upright.

"He put you in mortal danger, my Princess. That cannot go unpunished-"

"HE put ME in mortal danger? Are you certain of that, Nightmare?" I asked, feeling the anger start to rise. How dare he!?

He opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"For your information, Flare acts as a bridge between the outside universe and this world, through the enchantments that normally keep outsiders out. Tenebrae forced him here, and, to use his analogy, Flare is like a splinter, keeping the hole in the enchantments open enough so that outside agents can enter, and before you say anything about how removing the splinter would cause the wound to heal, Tenebrae has already thought that far ahead."

The moment I had mentioned a splinter, he had reared up and had already prepared to object, but now he simply responded, "How would he have thought that far ahead?"

I feel a little self-conscious about admitting exactly why Tenebrae could keep Flare here, but if it is any step toward making the two of them at least tolerate each other, it had to be done.

"Because, Nightmare Frigoris, Lux made it quite clear that, should Flare leave Equestria by some mode of transport that could possibly take him away from here, such as Doctor Whooves' TARDIS, Tenebrae would not be too shy about hurting his loved ones in both worlds to force him to return."

"He is a stranger here! What kind of loved ones would he have developed in all of two months in this world?"

That does it.

I raised myself to my fullest height, and looked directly at him.

"Nightmare Frigoris, I willingly entered the battle against Tenebrae this morning. You would not entirely understand, I do not think, because you were not made to. However, simply put, I love Flare."

While some of the other Nightmares looked mildly surprised at best, and Humorum had that look on his face that plainly said, "It's about damn time," Frigoris was not as composed. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and it looked as though he had been stricken by someone he had counted as a friend.

"I- you- wha-"

"And what is more, he has admitted that he returns my feelings. You see, Frigoris, I entered the fray to protect him. He did not put me in danger, for we both were already in it; I leapt to his defense, not he in mine."

He suddenly collapsed into a sitting position, completely stunned by this recent turn of events.

"I do not intend to punish you, for I think your near-fatal experience with Flare's little flower-spin move should be number one a reminder that he is not to be trifled with, even if he has no combat experience, and number two what you escaped with, taking into account what would have happened had I not intervened in time."

I turned to the other Nightmares and added, "That goes for all of you."

All of them dipped their heads and said as one, "As you command, Princess."

"Very well, then. Dismissed!"

The eleven others flew off, but Frigoris just sat there, staring at the ground, looking as though the worst possible tragedy had befallen him, although no tears were shed. Overall, he reminded me when Flare regained his memory just hours ago. There was a moment when he reveled in the situation, and then he just stopped, and he started making choked noises. I had no idea what to make of it at the time, but now, seeing Frigoris, something must have happened to Flare in the past that must have had the same effect on him. I'll talk to him later about it.

I cantered beside Frigoris and I knelt beside my most trusted solider.

"Are you alright, Nightmare Frigoris?"

The Nightmare shook for a moment, but then he nodded, sitting up slowly and sniffing. He had not shed a tear, which I didn't figure he would, but it was still disconcerting to see him like this.

"Can I… can I talk to him?" he asked softly.

I raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Talk to who, Frigoris?"

"I want to talk with him. With Flare. I want to talk to Flare, as soon as possible."

Under normal circumstances, I would have immediately denied his request, but there was something that was telling me I ought to let this happen. It might fix this little rift.

"Well, if I know him, he's probably sitting in his room, attempting to put his book of number puzzles back together after I unceremoniously shouted it to shreds. He too is recovering from one of my lectures, so at the moment, I would not recommend it. However, knowing him, he'll be out on the Landing in a few hours, preparing for a moonlit flight. He always does that when he has a stressful day. He tells me he finds the lights of Canterlot City rather soothing in the moonlight, but that he doesn't, or at least didn't, know why."

Frigoris dipped his head, then got up and started to canter out to my balcony, but before he got halfway there, he stopped.

"Princess Luna?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I'm sorry about attacking him," he said in a shaky tone of voice.

I stared at him as he sat there for a moment. However, I smiled gently at him.

"It will be alright, Frigoris," I said to him as gently as I smiled at him. "But don't go doing it again."

He dipped his head again, gave a shadow of a smile (which is something I have not seen him do in a very long time), and resumed cantering toward the Balcony.

"Have- have a good night, Princess," he said before taking off toward his room's window.

* * *

**_The Streets of Boston_**

"You want to go to Boston? Whatever for?" asked my absolute favorite of British Television Icons in Pony Form.

I tilted my head back and forth, appearing to consider the possibilities. I already knew what I wanted to go back for, but I did have to make it look like a spur-of-the-moment thing. I know he loves those kinds of gigs.

"This and that. You'll see when we get there. I promise it isn't anything… _too_ bad. Not like a Dalek prison vessel or anything."

Derpy looked at both of us rather curiously. We were standing in an open field just outside Ponyville, right close to where I first came to, and encountered Tenebrae for the first time.

And, as luck would have it, I managed once again to find the only rock in the entire grassy area, first by stumbling, then by discovering it with my skull. At least this time I didn't have my head collide with stone during a fight with Tenebrae.

"How do you know about the…" he started, but then he shrugged it off. "Oh well, in any case, it's been a long time since I've been to Earth. Miss Hooves, would you like to come with us? I could show you around Boston while Fla- err, Jack here- does his business."

I gave him the Luna StareTM and capped it off by blinking at him.

"Why'd you just call me Jack?" I asked.

The Doctor sheepishly rolled his eyes.

"Well, I have to use a fake name when running around on Earth more often than not. I usually go by John Smith, or around here, I use Time Turner or Sepia Tock. You can be my younger brother Jack! How does that sound?"

I gave a slight laugh.

"Doctor, our facial structure is different, I'm a ginger, you're a Brit and I'm an American, and finally, this is somewhere I'm already known. There's no point in using an alias period, much less one that easily debunked. Also, something to point out is that my Earth name is actually Jack, except my last name is Thomas, and not Smith."

The Doctor nodded when I mentioned my points about the alias not working, but he positively cracked up when I brought up my real (and hated) name.

"I got your name right? Oh, that's just fantastic!" he said, with a very wide grin. I smiled in spite of myself too. There was something about this Doctor that made him much more entertaining than the ones before him.

He considered the matter, tilting his head from one side to the other and back, like a musical metronome.

"Oh, alright then. What about Miss Hooves? She kind of needs an alias while we're with the humans."

"That's something you can come up with. I'm just going to my little alleyway garage to grab something and head on back," I replied, shrugging my wings.

Derpy had been watching the conversation eagerly. The Doctor had taken her to visit other worlds, and he had told her much about Earth, but never had the Doctor actually taken her there, simply because he never really saw too much of a reason to. That said, I bet she hoped they had muffins on this planet called "Dirt."

Doctor Whooves turned and started walking out toward a little outcropping of rock, behind which I noticed the familiar blue "Pony Call" box, which he went and opened up, then he and Derpy went on in. I was close behind.

I know I've seen this happen on the TV quite a lot, there's still no way to be prepared for walking into what seems like something small on the outside, only to find that it is actually several times bigger on the inside.

And despite all the practice through last night I had tried to go through, my fanboyishness was starting to shine through. I stuck my head outside the door, looking the blue box over. I honestly felt like an excited little boy who just got his first bike. I would know. I've felt like that before.

"Wow," I said, impressed.

"Just go ahead and get it over with. I bet I know exactly what you're going to say," the Doctor said, nodding to Derpy, who gave a mischievous little grin.

"It's smaller on the outside!" I exclaimed.

Both of them sat there for a moment, giving me weird looks. I knew why. The running gag is that someone's supposed to say "bigger on the inside."

The Doctor shook it off, then motioned toward the TARDIS.

"Well, come on in, then. We don't have all eternity to visit Boston for a few hours with, eh?"

I walked on inside as Derpy shut the door behind me.

"Now then, you may want to hold on to something, or at least prop yourself against a wall. This could get a little rough," the Doctor said as he started fiddling with the machinery in the center of the TARDIS.

I cantered on over to one of the supports, willed myself into my human shape, and clung on to one of the otherworldly supports.

The Doctor did the same, and when he transformed, it was in a wavy, tan-colored sort of aura. I asked him about it, and he simply shrugged and said, "It's the Sands of Time."

Derpy, surprisingly, already had a human form. In a burst of bubbles, she transformed into a college-aged girl of average height, who was wearing a grey hoodie and jeans. Her eyes were still the same, however, and her hair bore striking similarity to her mane, although it was much longer now.

There was still the slight problem that she still hadn't quite mastered the art of walking on two legs yet. The way the Doctor figured to cover this up was by having her walk in heels. That way they could just pass it off as her not being used to them.

"Now then, let's get moving, shall we? Allons-y!"

He threw the lever, and with the sound that brought little shivers of pleasure to me, the TARDIS vanished from Equestria, shaking rather violently as it soared through a vortex. And soon, it stopped.

"Well, here we are," the Doctor said, grinning eagerly. "Boston, Massachusetts, the year 2012, on September 29, approximately ten in the morning, Eastern Standard Time. Now, I may or may not be correct, because this TARDIS of mine has a tendency to take me many years off-course. Still, I trust her this time."

He walked over to the door and opened it, and I got my first glimpse of the Earth sky in months.

There are several differences between Earth and Equestria. Obviously, the native species is probably the first that comes to mind. However, that completely went over my head. The first thing that came to my mind when I stepped out with Derpy and the Doctor was how moody everything looked. The sky was a darker shade of blue than I remember it being, the colors around me were generally darker and less pronounced than Equestria's were, and overall, there was a clear contrast between the realms owned by the embodiments of Darkness and Light.

We had landed in an alleyway, and I had gone ahead and exited it to go and to find out where we were. It was a little chilly outside, and I wished I had been wearing something a bit warmer when I had gone to Equestria.

I glanced up and down the street and I saw immediately something that made me recognize where we were.

The Doctor wandered on out with Derpy, and they appeared to be deep in conversation. At least, they were until they got close to me.

"So, wonder where we are in Boston."

"Yawkey Way," I immediately answered.

The Doctor gave me a look that resembled Luna's earlier look of disapproval.

"How do you-"

"I live here, and Fenway Park is just over there," I said, motioning at where the large crowds of people were already gathered outside like they typically were on game day. "And it looks like the Red Sox are hosting the Tigers."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"They are? Well that's just spectacular! Miss Hooves, how would you like to watch a baseball game?" asked the Doctor, looking like an excited child.

Derpy looked confused.

"Uhh Doctor? What's a baseball game?"

The Doctor launched into an explanation, but before he could do more, I pulled my wallet out of my pocket, removed around 50 dollars of the hundred I usually keep in there, and handed them to the Doctor.

"Here. You'll need this to get into the game."

The Doctor took them, then grabbed Derpy's wrist and started to pull her excitedly toward the stadium.

I, however, went the opposite way. My garage was close by, but it did require a bit of walking. About two miles' worth of it, to be exact. I crossed a few streets and passed by a few industrial buildings before finding myself at an alleyway between two four-story brick buildings, which I entered. I walked past the two buildings to a little T-intersection, and I made a left-turn. The garage door was on my left, on the back of one of these buildings.

I ran up to it, fished a key out of my pocket, unlocked the lock holding the door down, and I raised it to reveal the first room of my little three-room flat.

Oh, my motorcycle! How I've missed you!

I ran over to my black Ducati Monster 696, and I started to look it over from front to back, making sure no one had touched it while I had been gone. It was all dusty, but since I don't exactly live here anymore, that's not too big of a concern. Still, nice to see that it's still in working order.

The other things in the room caught my attention. First, my iPhone. That was the thing I was here for. As entertaining a land full of magical talking ponies is, there's something to be said about the Internet and its ability to make me laugh that Equestria doesn't have.

Of course, there's also the logic that the Internet should only operate on Earth, and not Equestria. Well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I looked the place over some more, even going so far as to grab a can of Pepsi from my fridge (only to remember that it is now a month or so out of date), but I was only here for one thing, not all of it.

I walked into my little living area and turned the TV on, and turned it to a local channel, which was showing the game the Doctor took Derpy to. Figured I'd go ahead and let them have their game while I chilled here for a while.

"The 'ell? When did yeh show up here again?"

I know that voice. That lilting Irish accent can only belong to one person on this Earth.

I turned to my garage room to find none other than the man from my flashback in the basement of the Old Castle standing in the door, wearing exactly the same outfit. Loose jeans, a light-green T-shirt covered by a dark brown leather jacket, shoulder-length red hair, and a crossed white, black, and grey bunnet perched atop his head.

His two friends were with him, too. One was wearing an almost stereotypical outfit, given his appearance. He was tall, muscular, dark-skinned, with brown eyes and a small nose. He wore a black stocking cap, a black long-sleeved turtle-neck and dark blue jeans. His companion was thinner, but just as tall, with short blonde hair, light skin, grey eyes, and he wore a tanned-yellow shirt with a green oxford unbuttoned over it, as well as much lighter blue pants than either of his companions.

"Ae said, when did yeh get back, Jackie?" he asked, using his old nickname for me when I had stayed with him following my parents' deaths.

"Oh. Hey Rory," I said. "Actually, I just got back today."

He tilted his head to the side, thinking the situation over.

"Where did yeh go for two months? No one jist vanishes like that."

I gave a slight chuckle.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you half of the truth."

He walked on over and sat down next to me. Ross and Kent both went and sat in the two chairs around the room. We had hung out here a lot in the past. After a few years, I went ahead and made this little garage my home, and I worked at a friend's little pub up the street. I'd resigned right before my memory went blank and I woke up in Equestria.

"Yeh don't know that, laddie. Ae've seen mah fair share of interestin' things happenin' here and there. Oh, and how're the BoSox doin'?"

Dustin Pedroia blasted a double that scored a run, putting them one up on the Tigers at the bottom of the first.

"Well, yeh owe me fer keepin' the lights on here, Jackie. Ever since you vanished, I've been makin' the payments on this place so Ross, Kent, and I could use it, and it wasn't much, but it's still money out of mah pocket. Pay me back when yeh can, okay?"

I tilted my head to the side.

"That's going to be a problem, Rory. I'm leaving today after the game's over. I just came by to pick a few things up, stay until my friends get out of the game, and go ahead and leave. That reminds me, how much were the bills?"

"Oh, only about thirty dollars."

I counted the cash out and gave it to him.

"Tha's what I liked about yeh, Jackie. Yeh always paid yer stuff off quickly. Well, since our work here is done, we're headin' off ta Murphy's. Yeh want to come with? Serena and Jamie'll show up, I'd wager. We can hang around till it's time for yeh ta be off."

I chuckled.

"I'm gonna have to pass, Rory. It's nice being here and all, but I have friends waiting on me. Tell them I said hello. I'll be in and around every so often, bu they're going to be few and far between, I bet."

Rory nodded.

"Right-o, then. Well, will yeh be needin'-"

"No one touches the Ducati. I still like it."

"Damn. Ae was hopin' yeh'd want it to go somewhere it could be taken care of. Well, be seein' yeh, then. Have a nice day, Jackie."

With that, he, Ross, and Kent all got up and took their leave. I watched them go, feeling a little stab of sadness. Rory had been the one who had cared for me since my parents had died, and we had always been on very nice terms. He had taught me how to live on the streets, had homeschooled me, and generally raised me into the man/pony I am right now, for better or worse.

"I bet that's going on the Top 10 tomorrow night," came a statement from Joe Buck as Justin Verlander made a bare-handed ground ball fielding and caused a double play with a throw to second.

I checked the inning.

They had moved into the second.

Well, long story short, I finished the game, which the Red Sox won in extra innings, and decided to go ahead and head on back to the TARDIS. The Doctor and Derpy met me there. Derpy was clad in memorabilia from the game, including but not limited to an inside-out baseball cap (for rally purposes), a foam finger, and she was carrying a baseball autographed by Dustin Pedroia.

Cue jealousy.

"Yeah, she caught a foul ball in the fifth, and when a few of the players came out to sign, she got it signed by the one who hit it," the Doctor explained.

"Where were you sitting at?"

"Upper Deck, about halfway down the first-base line, and about a quarter of-"

"That was fun! I like baseball! Can we go again sometime Doctor? Huh? Can we? Can we!?" Derpy interrupted with a squee like an excited child.

The Doctor gave me a sheepish grin as he opened the TARDIS' door.

"I think giving her a large Coke was a bad idea," he remarked.

"You think?" I asked, raising an eyebrow with a nice little troll-smirk that could possibly put Luna's to shame.

"Well, time to head back. Miss Hooves, if you would kindly spin that wheel over there, we'll be off."

With a flash of tan, wavy sand, and a burst of bubbles, the two of them reverted to their usual pony forms, and closely following them, I transformed as well. I noticed my iPhone, which had been in my pocket, seemed to have vanished, as well as my wallet.

"Let's get back, shall we? Allons-y!"

And with the usual sounds, the TARDIS returned home.

* * *

**_Moonlit Reconciliation_**

Flare Dancer yawned widely as he started to canter on out toward the landing. It had been quite the stressful day, despite the fact that it was supposed to be a day off. It started off so simple. Attend a party with your crush, dance with her because she promised you one, get done, go back to Canterlot. Annoyingly enough, just like in movies, nothing ever goes according to plan. Demigod of darkness shows up, who happens to be the patron saint of Discord, and completely throws the entire day into disarray. First, by attacking Flare. Second, by in a sense, forcing Flare and Luna together. Third, by causing his mortal enemy/sibling to make an appearance and take up even more time. More stuff happened, but overall it was minor. There was this one detail about a fight that wrecked half the Canterlot Castle Entry Hall, but it doesn't really matter much.

He passed right through the archway that led out onto the landing, then suddenly stopped and turned back to the entry. He had sensed somepony with the Pegasi's ability to detect beings. He wasn't very proficient at it, but even he was able to differentiate between a living being and an inanimate stretch of stone wall.

"Who's there? Show yourself! I've been attacked twice today, and I'm not taking kindly to anyponies slinking around in-"

The figure he had shouted at emerged from the darkness to reveal none other than Nightmare Frigoris. Frigoris stared blankly at Flare, possibly at best amused by the thought of Flare attacking him, though he had almost faced quite the serious injury in a previous bout with Flare.

"…the dark," Flare finished, giving Frigoris a suspicious look up and down. "Why are you here? Come to apologize, I suppose?"

Frigoris dipped his head immediately. Flare seemed startled and a little more suspicious because of this.

"I have."

"Did Luna put you up to this?" Flare immediately asked.

Frigoris made a slight twitch when Flare mentioned Luna without the title "Princess" in front of it, but other than that, he betrayed no reaction. Despite his new knowledge of just how close his Princess and his nuisance of a rival were, he still had difficulty resolving himself to the fact that Flare wasn't giving her title the respect he felt it deserved.

"In a manner of speaking, though she did not order me to."

Flare said nothing. He continued to look Frigoris up and down.

"She did tell me that you would be out flying this evening, given your habit of taking a flight over Canterlot City when you've had a stressful day," Frigoris supplied. "She says you don't know why."

Flare turned back to the stone railing of the landing, beyond which the lights of the city shone at the base of a cliff, each one a star in the otherwise-inky landscape.

"Well, I didn't back then, but I do now," Flare said, shuffling his feathers, quite eager to get on with the flight. However, as long as they were holding a civil conversation, he may as well go with it. "Used to be, when I lived in the human world, the lights of the city of Boston had this same effect on me whenever I had a stressful day. I'd go up to a hill and just look at the city's lights for a while. Now I can fly over the nearest thing to that city that I have here."

"There is the city of Trotston, out by Manehattan, since it seems like the Equstrian counterpart," Frigoris supplied, in one of his rare instances of actually wanting to help me out.

"Well, I'm sure it would be cool to see a ponyfied version of my hometown, but it just will not be the same."

Frigoris lifted an eyebrow.

"Ponyfied?"

Flare gave a little start.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Well, there's a show in our world that features Equestria as the setting for a show. Well, there got to be quite a few fans of the show, which, naturally, featured ponies as the protagonists, to the point where people started making pony versions of everything. We called it 'ponyfication.'"

"I see," Frigoris said, sounding a little amused by this. "Your culture sounds interesting. No surprise that young mint-colored mare in Ponyville seems enamored by it. You humans are a curious lot."

"You should see the folks on the Internet," Flare muttered.

"The what?"

"Oh. Nothing, just something we invented. Something I don't quite trust showing the general public just yet."

Frigoris tilted his head.

"I… see…"

They lapsed into a slightly awkward silence for a little bit, but Flare, given his usual tendency to not sit in one place for more than six seconds at a time, decided he was going to go on out and fly.

"You coming?" he asked Frigoris on his way.

Frigoris raised an eyebrow, a little surprised by Flare's welcoming him on a normally-solo flight like that, but followed.

With a rushing sound, Flare shot himself into the air as fast as he could. While definitely not the fastest flier in Equestria, he had definitely improved to a reasonable speed, able to compete with Luna on her best day. There was nothing quite like the feeling of the wind on your face and blowing through your hair at a lightning-fast speed, which is one reason why he got a motorcycle instead of a car/truck/van/gas-guzzling-horrid-American-monstrosity-of-a-Hummer on Earth.

He didn't hear Frigoris behind him; the wind rushing past his ears was too loud. Nevertheless, he knew Frigoris was there, following him. It's kind of a pity they had to fight like they did. To Flare, Frigoris seemed like an OK pony. While he may not be smart enough to have figured out what was going on between him and Luna, his heart was in the right place when caring about Luna's safety.

"I don't know whether Princess Luna has told you anything regarding how we were created or not," Frigoris started as they soared by the Canterlot Clocktower, "so I'm going to assume she hasn't. We Nightmares were not created with the capability to love."

Flare turned and raised an eyebrow.

"We were created with a sort of love, like an unconditional love, and a love for our kingdom, but no relational aspect of it. And from what I've seen of it since we were accepted into Equestrian society, I pose a question to you, Flare Dancer."

Flare turned back and nodded. "Let's hear it," he replied.

"Are your intentions with my Princess honorable?" Frigoris asked.

Flare said nothing for a moment.

"I understand why you ask, and my silence does not mean my intentions are dishonorable. I'm simply thinking of a way to explain it. See, when you truly love someone, your intentions will always be honorable. You have my word that no such intent will ever come out of my relationship with her."

Frigoris made a grunt, which sounded to Flare like an approving one.

"Just know, Flare Dancer, if ever your intentions become less honorable with her than what they are now, or if ever she comes to harm and it was within our power to prevent, there will be a reckoning between you and I. You have _my_ word."

They both lapsed into silence as they flew around the city some more.

"Also, I hear you have a session with Captain Squall tomorrow," Frigoris said, sounding very much amused. That more than anything alarmed Flare.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Well, not in the long run, you see. But you won't think so while you're in it."

If Frigoris was intentionally screwing with Flare's nerves, he was doing a damn good job.

"A word of advice, save your energy during your Pegasus Magic lessons. You're going to need all the help you can get."

Flare didn't know whether to trust Frigoris on this one, or just ignore it. He sincerely hoped he could do the latter without any penalty, but something in him was saying it's probably best to trust him.

A few more moments of flying, and they found themselves back at Canterlot Castle's Landing.

Frigoris immediately started to canter on inside, but he paused before he passed through the archway inside the castle.

"I see why you like flying over the city at night. I didn't think I'd find it so calming."

He resumed cantering in, but stopped again.

"Do be sure and get a good night's sleep. You're going to be missing a few hours a day starting tomorrow. I'm asking Cordon Bleu to bring popcorn to the event."

Flare sputtered, and within minutes, he was running at Frigoris, who had mysteriously vanished from the scene.

* * *

**_Short, But Sweet_**

The sessions with Captain Squall were fairly popular betting faire among the soldiers and castle staff. While no one really bets on who will win, because that would be a landslide betting margin, they bet on how long the challenger will last before giving up, or if they will accomplish their intended purpose.

As is the case with Flare Dancer.

Captain Squall was rather infamous for his philosophy about training guards who couldn't manipulate direct lightning and ice magic back when he served my sister and I when we were at the Old Castle, and a thousand years hasn't changed that.

Among the small crowd gathered to watch this particular session were the Nightmares, my sister, Cordon Bleu, who had always been kind enough to provide popcorn for these sessions, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and Rainbow Dash, who had claimed she had a day off from her weather management in Ponyville. When asked how she found out about this sparring session, she had shrugged and replied, "Twi told me."

And that irritates me. The only way Twilight Sparkle could have found out is if Tia sent Spike a letter mentioning the subject, and when Tia mentions something in the slightest, she wants someone to hear it. Tia must have thought the presence of Rainbow Dash at this fight would be in some way entertaining.

Little wonder Flare called her Trollestia yesterday evening.

However, it's bad enough that she obviously has a crush on Flare- and before you say anything I am not jealous. In the slightest. At all. End of story.

…

Okay, maybe I am a _little_ jealous.

But anyway, she was still there, and she kept pestering me with questions about Flare. And these aren't the kind of questions that a filly feels comfortable answering about her coltfriend to the general public. These are questions about his favorite food, which of course I had to circumvent considering his less-than-favorable taste in eating and how everypony else might react to him being a professed meat-eater in a society where we have sentient cows and pigs, what he does in his spare time, which I found rather harmless (if rather stalker-ish), and my personal favorite (sarcasm), what he thinks of her.

While I am a princess, and I am supposed to keep my royal dignity and all that horse-apples that I utterly despise, this is one of the first times I have ever found the nearest pillar of marble and literally bashed my head against it in frustration. It was then that I rediscovered that a horn, while useful for manipulating the laws of physics, does not make for something to ram into a pillar of solid white rock.

When Flare found out that Rainbow Dash was in Canterlot, he reacted in typical Flare Dancer fashion. Meaning he did his absolute best to convince her to help him prank me in the most fantastic way possible for the… what was that expression he used yesterday? For teh lulz, was it?

In any case, I had to spend the rest of time between our lesson and Squall's session using magic to pull wads of cloth from the pipes of my organ. I had sat down to play, and I started pushing keys only to find that there was no sound.

Speaking of Squall's session, Flare looked a mess as he sat in the center of the training room, waiting for the Captain to come out.

The training room is quite simple. It's a large square room, with an upper deck for observers to stand, like our little group. The floor is made of dark wood, with a lighter square in the middle for a sparring ground. Of course, with Pegasi, the colors won't matter. This is likely going to be a fight taking place in the air.

And knowing Squall, Flare is going to be waking up extra sore tomorrow morning.

The doors to the room opened and Squall cantered in, completely casually, in a manner that was one you would not expect right before a duel. He wore no armor today, unlike his normal appearances, which gave us a rare view of his cutie mark. It was two crossed swords, covered by a shield emblazoned with the symbol of Equestria, the two likenesses of my sister and I, chasing the tail of the other.

That is what I liked about Squall. He may be Celestia's personal captain, but his purpose in life isn't merely to guard one princess over the other. His purpose is to guard Equestria itself.

"Well, the time has finally come for the two of us to spar together, Flare Dancer," he said as he walked on up to the lighter square of wood.

Flare nodded, looking rather tense.

"There are a few ground rules I want to lay out before we begin. First off, I am aware of your ability to shift forms, so I must ask you to remain in your current form, simply because this will benefit you in the end that way. Second, this may be a friendly spar, but I want you to strike with intent to kill. That is the only way this exercise will accomplish its purpose. Last, but certainly not least, there are no rules on striking and the like. After all, all's fair in love and in war. Use your cheapest tactics, your dirtiest moves, just do anything you possibly can to win the fight. Do I have your word that you will abide by these rules?"

Flare nodded again. His facial expression contained an equal measure of apprehension and anticipation. He was both ready and not ready for this.

"In that case, let us begin."

Squall shifted into a fighting stance, weight on the back legs, bending low over the front, and preparing to charge or leap. He raised a hoof and motioned to send the message, "Come at me."

Flare, rather than charge headlong into this frontal assault, began to pace around Squall slowly. It looked like he was taking his time to evaluate Squall before charging openly. I doubt he'll think of anything he can do that Squall won't anticipate. Squall is an accomplished thinker as well as fighter. I have yet to defeat him in chess, a skill he applies to the battlefield as well.

For several seconds, there was no sound, save for the small clopping noise that meant that Flare had taken another step. However, the ground seemed to bear no potential fruit for Flare, so he spread his wings and took off, flying around Squall, who stayed in his selfsame position of preparedness for a fight. In fact, his eyes were shut tight. It was a tactic that usually gave opponents a false sense of security whn charging, but he quickly would turn it against them.

Flare continued circling Squall in the air for several seconds as well. I was starting to get restless.

Suddenly, he dove at Squall, flying at top speed. Squall leapt out of the way, but rather than hit the ground hard, Flare pushed off of the two hooves he had intended to collide with, and sprang bottom hooves first at Squall, who leapt to the side once again to avoid the attack.

The moment his hooves touched the ground, Squall launched himself at Flare. Flare had no time to react before he was suddenly tacked and viciously slammed into the ground.

Flare was given no chance to react in any way. Every time he hit the ground, the Captain would pick him up again and pile-drive him, throw him, or in general wreck him.

Having the ability to slow things down is nice, because I can take a moment to appreciate the look of panic on Flare's face as he hurtles through the air toward one of the pillars supporting the viewing deck.

For the most part, however, I watched at normal speed. Commentating on the match below always makes it more entertaining. And Rainbow Dash's cringing made it so worth it.

I knew she was a black belt in some martial arts form or another, I forget the name, but I could tell, she was in full "How would I be able to take on _that_?" mode.

After half-a-dozen takedowns, Flare finally managed to right himself by landing hooves-first on a pillar and pushing off. With a snarl, he managed to tackle Squall, lift him into the air, contort himself into a bipedal position while holding Squall stomach-up onto his shoulders, and drop towards the ground at an alarming pace.

A second before he hit the ground, it suddenly dawned on me what was going to happen, and I let out a small "eep," and clenched my eyes shut.

With a sickening crunch, Squall's spine was dislodged, and Flare tossed him up and kicked him into a pillar.

He wiped some blood off his mouth with a satisfied smirk. The Nightmares all had expressions of surprise, but no one else's reactions could top Rainbow Dash's. She was whooping and jumping up and down as though the Cloudsdale Chasers had won the National Hoofball League championship. As she had never seen Squall fight before, she wouldn't know what was coming next.

With a slight groan, and several popping sounds, Squall managed to stand up and pop his spine back into place with relative ease. He had suffered many worse injuries over the time of his service, and he could shake this one off as relatively minor.

Squall gave a slight smile as Flare's smirk turned into a look of absolute dismay.

"An excellent tactic. However, if you had brought my back down on one of your knees, you would likely have broken my spine, rendering this fight over, and making you the first person ever to best me in nearly a hundred years, back when Juggernaut was being trained. But you didn't, and I'm not going to give you another opportunity like that again."

He drew himself into a bipedal position, cracking his neck and shoulders in the process, then returned to his fighting stance.

With no warning, he was tackling Flare into a wall. The walls of the sparring room are much more solidly reinforced than the more showy rooms of the main castle, and thus, it held when two ponies collided at speeds nearing the average speed of flight.

Flare looked absolutely trashed. He was battered, bloody, and he looked exhausted. Nevertheless, he still kept trying to fight. He threw two punches at Squall in quick succession, but both were dodged effortlessly.

And then it happened.

Flare, in a sudden burst of absolute rage and frustration, threw a powerful punch at Squall, and crackling on his swinging hoof were bolts of lightning.

Squall caught the hoof inches from his face and examined it, and then he smiled. The electricity slowly fizzled into nothingness.

"Excellent. But we continue. You may have learned what it feels like to harness this power, but you must learn how to call it out when needed, and in situations not requiring rage to do so. Now, calm yourself and throw the punch at me again."

He let go of Flare's hoof and backed away, cantering back to the lighter square.

"The purpose of this session was to frustrate you to the point where you would experience the feeling of holding lightning energy in your hoof. The rookie Pegasi guards always get this session, because while most of them may be able to move clouds, and cause clouds to produce lightning, they usually cannot punch with that energy right off the bat. Therefore, I teach them how it feels to bring it out with this session. With some cases, I simply use this session to get a feel for their fighting abilities. Not that I don't do it for others, like yourself."

Flare hobbled over to the square. The fight was now over, but Squall would now drill Flare on how to use lightning punches with relative ease and grace, and then move on to ice, and eventually, how to manipulate clouds without actually touching them, a diversionary combat technique that Pegasi Guards could make excellent use of in situations that required stealth.

"Alright everypony, fight's over, let's all go back to our posts," said Tia as she started to usher everypony out of the sparring hall. "Rainbow Dash, I need you to deliver this parcel to Twilight Sparkle for me, and I need it completely intact, so make sure you avoid any stormy weather patterns that should be hitting the Running of the Leaves paths today."

Rainbow Dash saluted, took a small box from Tia, and flew on out. The Nightmares had all started chatting about the fight. Even Frigoris seemed surprised by how Flare had been able to mark Squall. All twelve of the Nightmares had marked him, as well as several other current guardsponies of note, but never like that, dislocating Squall's spine. Perhaps now Frigoris will learn to respect Flare as a fighter, given that he nearly trashed him, and now managed to mark Squall.

Cordon Bleu returned to the kitchens, claiming he had to make Tia's luncheon, and Tia herself had to return to the throne for her duties. She had taken her daily time off to come and watch the fireworks.

I stayed and watched for several minutes after, observing as Squall managed to teach Flare to bring out his lightning in ways ranging from a standard punch, to simply generating a small amount on your hoof.

When the session was over a half-hour later, Flare was too exhausted to fly up and meet me, so I flew down to him.

"How was it?" I asked, slightly concerned.

However, despite his exhaustion, he was as giddy as a schoolcolt. If you find that hard to believe, imagine Pinkie Pie hyped up on sugar, and yet, right at that part where the energy crash happens. There's a lot of energy there, but it's halfway gone.

Nevertheless, _he still won't sit still!_

"I can make lightning!" he managed to say rather blearily, before losing his balance and falling over. He managed to stagger back to his feet, still grinning and shuffling like he always does. Well, this makes it a great opportunity for trolling.

"You do realize you're going to have another session tomorrow, right?"

Which is totally true. Squall's gonna be teaching him independent cloud manipulation tomorrow. However, the look on Flare's face was totally worth it.

He went from grinning broadly to giving the most fearful expression I have ever seen him give.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Flare!" I cheerfully piped, and with that, I was off, not bothering to wait until Flare caught up.

* * *

**_What Is This "Internet," Thou Speakest Of?_**

My life is complete.

Through some experimentation, I was able to channel a small amount of electric energy through my plug when it was plugged into my iPhone, and as a result, I have unlimited battery for abso-effing-lutely free.

Also, for some reason, Canterlot Castle has 3G coverage. I guess AT&T wasn't lying when they said they covered almost everywhere. Well, I guess that means Internet!

Seriously, though. How does AT&T have coverage all the way out here? As far as I can tell, I'm on another world. How the hell can I receive Internet out here?

Who cares!? I'm just glad I have it!

At the moment, I'm sitting in my bed, in my human shape. I discovered very quickly that hooves, while they are very awesome for channeling electricity through, tend to mash all the buttons at once when you try to type with them.

This, unfortunately, led to me accidentally sending a text to the phone number 1268569683865345 that had a lot of gibberish in it. I received a reply that I had sent it to an invalid number (within moments, mind you) and had promptly chucked the phone toward my bookcase.

And of all the things it had to hit, it hit the Sudoku book I had taken a few hours to repair. And it caused the book to fall off of the shelf and land in front of the door pages-down, which chose that moment to fly open at the behest of Imbrium, who had come to deliver a message from Luna referring to the Grand Galloping Gala's preparations, and how I was needed to help out with them.

Meanwhile, the pages of the book were now piled on the floor underneath the door and up against the wall behind it.

Long story short, and ignoring my rage at the hours of repair work wasted and having to be done over, I decided to use my iPhone only when in human form. Considering I had to pull it from my pocket in that state, it seemed pointless to shift back anyways.

Now, I rarely if ever use my iPhone to listen to music anymore. During my first month in Canterlot, Celestia had gifted me with an experimental alarm-radio, mainly because of my tendency to sleep in unless something loud wakes me up. There were currently only a few stations, since the development was rather new, but some of the shows I found more entertaining than the music I had.

"_It's that time again! Turn all the speakers to eleven, break out the drums and the electric guitars because we are the spark that lights up the morning! This is… THE VINYL SCRATCH!"_

Speak of Tenebrae…

One of the more entertaining talk shows I had found myself listening to was now on. From what I understand, they have some form of transcript readily available for those who want to listen in on the more popular episodes.

In any case, I was currently browsing through one of my favorite sites ever, that being Fan Fiction dot Net. I tried my hand at writing fiction a few times. Never worked out so well. Always had a few Sue-ish traits in my characters. More often than not, they would have some combination of black and red, with a flame motif.

Ignore the protagonist of this story's hypocritical comments.

The door to my room opened, and in walked the most beautiful pony in the world. At least in my opinion. But if I thought anyone else was prettier than Luna, that just wouldn't be right at all.

She took one look at my current form, made a slight grimace, and cantered on over.

"So you choose to spend your break time playing around on that little electronic device," she commented in a flat voice.

"Eh, just for the moment," I replied.

She furrowed her brow and looked at the screen.

"It looks like you are reading a book. How is a book contained in something so small?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I proceeded to explain the internet to her in a very general lecture. And since she was so enamored with iPhone, she kept pressing me for details, which I tried to circumvent.

"Well, what is it you are reading?" she asked, giving it a quick scan.

"Just some fanfiction."

"Pray tell, what is this 'fan-fiction?'"

I paused for a moment, giving a small laugh. I knew she was going to ask this sooner or later in this little conversation.

"Well, there are shows, books, games, and all that in our world that have inspired something of a devoted fandom. Most of these fans are content in themselves to simply say 'I like this game' or to wear a shirt of it. Then there are those who take it a step further and use their abilities to write fictions based on that story. That, dear Luna, is fanfiction. A fictional story written by a fan of a typical form of entertainment that takes place within the world of that entertainment form."

She processed that information quickly and nodded.

"I think I get it. What is this you are reading?" she asked, giving it a much closer look. "I see the names 'Sora,' 'Donald,' and 'Goofy' in it. They are characters, I assume?" she asked, looking back at me curiously.

"Well, yes. They are the protagonists in a game I played back on Earth called Kingdom Hearts. It's a rather strange story, full of the words Darkness, Light, Heart, and Key, but I like it. There exists a fanfiction for just about every known world out there. There even exists fanfiction about this world here."

Her eyebrows shot right up into her mane.

"Really? How is this possible?"

Now I have to explain to her all about the bronies, and how I was never actually one of them until I got forced here. That's going to be a topic of conversation I am not going to enjoy in the slightest.

Eventually, I managed to segue into the matter that she had fanfiction about her, and I proceeded to show her one.

As she read it, her look grew more and more incredulous and in general, it plainly said, "wat."

After she had her fill, she retreated to the edge of the bed, contemplating what she had seen, and I pulled one of my personal favorites up to read.

"What are you reading now?" she asked when she chanced another look at my screen.

I shrugged.

"Just a fic written by this nineteen year old college kid with no life outside of ponies. It's quite sad, really. His author's note even says he ponyfied his PC."

"PC?"

I blinked uncomprehendingly for a moment, but then I remembered ponies don't have computers.

"Never mind."

"Don't the stories we have here prove entertaining enough for you? We have books like _Harry Trotter, The Adventures of Daring Do _and all sixteen of her books_, _and _The Lord of the Rings _and the Middle-Equestria universe_. _That last set's a personal favorite of mine. J.R.R. Coltien was a genius when he wrote it."

No way. No freaking way. Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, and Lord of the Rings have all been ponyfied. I suppose I should have seen it coming, but every day I find new surprises that compare to something my old life.

I gave a short laugh.

"I've read them all. They were under different names on our world. They were called _Harry Potter, The Adventures of Indiana Jones, _although there were only four installments, and they were all movies-"

"Movies?" she interrupted with a curious look.

"Moving pictures. Imagine a slide-show played so fast that it looks like they're doing things in real time, complete with people voicing them. Anyway, the last one was called _The Lord of the Rings _as well, but instead of J.R.R. Coltien, it was J.R.R. Tolkien. All three of them are personal favorites of mine as well."

She furrowed her brow.

"Moving pictures that can actually look like the events are happening in real time. I'll tell the Manehattan Institute of Technology to begin researching and inventing a camera that can capture photographs that fast. Then we'd have to find a way to incorporate the sound…"

She trailed off. I seem to have given her genuine inspiration. However, I am well aware that movies already exist here. Rainbow Dash made me watch a few the first days I was here. I can't wait to see the look on her face when she gets the letter back saying, "We've already invented these! Where the Tartarus have you been?"

Well, then she'd write a letter back explaining that she was on the moon, and then this whole issue about disrespecting royalty would come into play, and the moon may very well have several new denizens in a few weeks.

Maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but overall, no sense attempting to recreate existing technology. I explained to her that they had already been invented. She gave a slight laugh.

"It seems I am further behind than I thought I was. Well, I may have to give these a look. They may make the time after the Grand Galloping Gala that much easier to live through, especially considering what we're facing."

And that reminds me. I haven't seen or heard either hide or hair of Tenebrae since our last little meeting a month ago. Knowing him, he's probably biding his time, waiting for a moment to strike.

Well, what will come will come, and I'll just have to be ready to meet it when it does. Which should be easier now that I can create lightning and do several basic Pegasus combat techniques. Squall gave me this little lecture about how, for all points and purposes, I'm essentially one of the Nightmares in all but name, and because of that fact, I have to be able to protect her. I mean, I'm the on Tenebrae singled out to torment, along with those closest to me, which makes it my responsibility to protect Luna.

He started with lightning, then moved on to a special technique for cloud manipulation without actually touching them, even to basic weather control distractions. After he had taught me the basics, he explained that there was no such thing as an advanced Pegasus combat maneuver. The thing he told me the first time I had asked how to shoot lightning served to be his response to my posing that question about advanced moves. Simply the limitless imagination and ingenuity, combined with these basic elements.

Luna noticed I was deep in thought.

"I'll leave you alone to your thinking," she said with a smile, and she began to canter on out.

However, I jolted up and dashed after her, heading for the kitchens. Screw introspection, I'm hungry!

* * *

_Well, I must say, that chapter took forever. Not because of writers block or anything. I knew what I wanted to write. It's just, I like to only write a little at a time (though that won't stop me from writing large chunks at once), as that gives me time to decide "No that's stupid," or "Yeah, that can work." The main cause, however is divided between two issues._

_1) Planning out the two sequels I said I was going to write. I have some excellent ideas, some of which I have told to some of you readers (you know who you are). However, I have not put all of my muffins in one basket, but rather, I put a some of the same in several of yours' baskets, and left others out. I find that If you put them all in one basket, Derpy takes them all, and you are left with no muffins._

_2) Band Two-A-Days over the course of the week leading up to Fall 2012 Semester. Speaking of which, anyone else catch my little bit of self-deprecation in Chapter 5? Well, it appears Flare has been reading a story about himself. FANFICTIONCEPTION! A fanfiction within a fanfiction._

_Speaking of which, college is starting, and that means that once again, writing this takes a bit of a backseat. But fear not! I shall continue to attempt to write at a reasonable pace._

_Also, has anyone else caught my nods to other fanfictions that I like to read? For example, Luna's Abacus comes directly from the fanfiction _Progress_, and in this chapter, the whole Vinyl Scratch radio show comes directly from _The Vinyl Scratch Tapes_. I like to imagine all of these taking place at once (although, it would be hard to mix and match them, considering some of their events take place at the same time as mine, and in the case of _Progress_, it is rather difficult to ship Big Mac and Luna while Flare and Luna is going on). I would give a nod to _Through the Eyes of Another Pony, _which served as my inspiration for writing this 60k+ novel of a fanfiction (which I'm rather proud to say is at the moment my Magnum Opus, which means my longest, and possibly greatest work, though I have at least two more fics that should be longer than this one will be when completed), but considering the similarities between it and this, I figured I could go without. If, however, Cards Lafter is reading this, how do you like it?_

_Well, that is all I have for you today. Have a good day, readers, give me feedback about the chapter/story please, and all the usual stuff I put at the end._


	7. Double Team

**_A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 7: Double Team_**

_Well, hello everypony! How's life been? Welcome to the official opening of Act II._

_The music for this chapter, and remember to get extended versions pl0x._

_A. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "Ghirahim's Theme"_

_B. Pokemon Black and White "Elite 4 Battle"_

_On with the opener to Act II!_

* * *

I stormed into my room, pissed beyond reason. This Grand Galloping Gala is really starting to irritate me. I never cared much for parties on Earth, but I doubt they were all composed of the rich, influential, snobbish, and generally infuriatingly full-of-themselves bluebloods.

Including a certain Prince.

Yeah, I've met Prince Blueblood. I ran into him when on my way to one of Squall's sessions (literally) and he tried to have me thrown out. It took the combined efforts of Tia, Luna, Squall, and Princess Cadance to mollify him. I hadn't met him before, seeing as how he had been doing some time in the spice mines (of Kessel) to teach him some humility, according to Celestia, because he had attempted to shut down some radio station just because the hostesses made fun of him on the air.

In the meantime, I also met Princess Cadance for the first time. Luna and Tia spoke highly of her and her husband, and I found out that she was now Twilight Sparkle's sister-in-law. Seeing as how this society seems to be based on the medieval monarchy with a massive amount of the egalitarianism philosophy, that would make Twilight a duchess, essentially a princess-consort.

Which means she's royalty.

Which means she can boss me around and I can't say anything about it.

Note to self, conveniently forget to mention anything about that to Twilight.

All in all, I liked Cadance. She, unlike her eldest relative, was not used to being completely regal 24/7. She also, unlike her next-eldest relative, did not constantly troll me whenever she wanted a laugh. And she, unlike her next-eldest relative's most trusted guard, did not attack ponies they had never met before.

Back to the current situation, I stomped over to my bed, leapt into it, and stared angrily at the top of my four-poster. The Upper Class had insisted on having a say in the décor for their little gathering. And every attempt I have made to live up to their desires, they would start griping in their snooty voices about how I was going to ruin it, about how I was nothing more than a commoner, about why the hell am I in this castle when I am nothing more than a jobless peasant, and about how their attempts to get in Princess Celestia's good books were going to be spoiled by me, and about how they were glad that this year the common peasantry wouldn't be permitted to attend.

There were a couple of the rich that I liked well enough, but of them, only one of them had attempted to befriend me, and he even stood up for me while the others were griping. His name was Fancy Pants, and upon finding out that I was friends with Rarity and her friends, he and his wife just had to get to know me, and they even let me pick the restaurant. Cue disapproval for my carnivorous nature, but they didn't let that get in the way. I suppose what really astounded them was when Luna showed up to the restaurant and ate with us, and she unabashedly told them I was her coltfriend. It wasn't one of those bad surprises either. It was one of those where they actually consider the possibility that a street rat could have a chance with a princess. Seems they may have seen _Aladdin_.

No, not the Popeye version from 1939. The Disney one. The one with Robin Williams, which takes place at least 10,000 years in the distant future. That _Aladdin_.

And speaking of Luna, she cantered into my room several seconds later, giving me a _very_ disapproving look. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't be afraid of that look, but considering how much she hated the nobles, which was almost as much as I did, and also considering that she was beyond her usual irritation to the point where she didn't even give me the Luna Stare (TM) or the Luna Blink (also TM), I could tell she was just a little more than something as mundane as being irritated. She, quite frankly, was _pissed._

"The nobles have been complaining to me ever since you stormed off," she immediately growled in a soft, cold voice. "They would complain to Tia or Cadance, but Cadance has work to do, and Tia is going about her business as the monarch, and thus petty concerns are not hers to listen to until she is off-duty. That said, I have had to listen to complaint after complaint about how you are going to ruin it, about how you are nothing more than a commoner, about why the Tartarus are you in this castle when you are nothing more than a jobless peasant, and about how their feeble attempts to get in Tia's good books were going to be spoiled by you, and about how they were glad that this year the common peasantry won't be permitted to attend."

I rolled my eyes when she listed their complaints, but I did it in a way that shows I was annoyed with them, not her. Still, her mood did not improve.

"For Lux's sake, Flare! I know you feel this is second in priorities after Tenebrae, but we have an outlook that as long as there is an Equestria for Tia and I to raise the sun and moon to, we will continue our lives as usual. We need to keep the citizens unaware of this situation, because if we don't, we have mass panic. Our society is not one of open warfare, though the way things are going, it might have to convert to one soon enough, if not actually raise a military outside of the Royal Guards to adequately defend our realm from those outside looking to harm this land."

She still didn't get it.

"Luna, what you fail to realize is that if Tenebrae wins, there's no Equestria to raise the sun and moon for. He wins, he destroys everything Lux worked so hard to make and defend. And quite frankly, don't you find it odd that he hasn't shown himself here in months? Not since he rampaged around Ponyville? Something's up with him, and I have to be on guard for when he does decide to show up and attack again. Something tells me he's not going to hold back this time."

There came the sound of a throat being cleared. I looked past Luna and found myself looking at Frigoris, who had his usual blank expression on his face, though he did seem concerned about something.

"I overheard the conversation," he started immediately, "and as much as I hate to acknowledge that he is actually right about something-"

"Buck you, Frigoris!"

"-I agree with Flare Dancer. I find we are not adequately prepared for his next appearance. He has yet to show us his true power and glory, and that little bit he used in Ponyville two months ago took the entirety of the Nightmares, Solar Guard, many of the normal ranks of Pegasus and Unicorn Guards, two of three alicorn princesses, a goddess, and Captain Squall. Perhaps, if I may make a suggestion that would compromise between your outlooks?" he half-asked, raising his eyebrow at Luna.

Luna nodded, and Frigoris continued.

"Rather than cancel the Grand Galloping Gala, seeing as how it is one of the oldest and most traditional celebrations we have, we have a certain amount of guards physically at the party, even more stationed in the city, a magical shield around Canterlot, and several party guests actually be Royal Guardsponies in disguise. It must be more than last time, seeing as how we have to account for the absence of a goddess, but considering what little military power we currently have, we need Captain Squall by Princess Celestia's side all night."

**_You needn't fear that I would not show up to aid you in a time of need such as that, but the Nightmare speaks sense and truth. Tenebrae will return with more power than he had last time, and as such, you will need to have more manpower- excuse me, horsepower- if you want to stand a chance against him._**

Why Lux, did you just make a joke?

**_It's called a pun. Yes, in fact I did, Flare Dancer. Just because I am a deity does not mean that I cannot have a wit or a sense of humor at the same time._**

Fair enough, I suppose. However, I still felt this Grand Galloping Gala was just bait for Tenebrae. He's such a drama queen; I bet he wouldn't be able to resist the opportunity to be fashionably late. Knowing him, he'd probably open the front doors with a loud bang, and he would stride in, complete with his own evil theme music. Golbez's Theme from Final Fantasy IV does seem to fit him.

Luna's anger seemed to completely drain, replaced instead by exhaustion. She climbed onto my mattress and drooped her head onto it, and it was here that I noticed her eyes were bloodshot and they seemed unfocused. Her eyelids seemed to involuntarily start to close, stopping at her pupils.

"Are you alright, Luna?" I asked. I swear, Frigoris' eye twitched, but I wasn't in the mood to troll him at the moment. Not while the mare I'm in love with looks like total horse apples.

Luna gave a feeble head-shake. At least she was honest about it.

"I'm just exhausted. I'm tired of this Gala, and I'll be more than happy when it's completely over, and I haven't been able to catch up on sleep because of it. I'm not even able to slow time down for some reason like I usually do."

Frigoris cantered up, his already-unusual amount of concern starting to break through his usually-blank mask of an expression.

"You must take a day off, Princess. You are in no condition to continue your work when you are in this shape."

She made a grunt of protest, but as much as I hate to acknowledge that he is right about something (because he is right about stuff, I just hate to admit it), I agree with Nightmare Frigoris. She really needs to take a break. I think I can go without Pegasus magic lessons for a few days. I mean, ever since I learned how to make lightning, I've been able to cause everything from sprinkling to thunderstorms, and to perfect them with relative ease. Now we are working on winter weather, and when Captain Squall showed me the basics of using ice magic, I discovered that, while I can easily cause Ice magic to happen, I can't use ice magic as well as I can use lightning, and thus, my winter weather suffers as a side-effect.

Which sucks, because I really like winter weather. I did live in Boston, after all, where it's cold for half of the year and mild at best the other half.

Luna lay there for several moments before acknowledging. She shook her head, then reached up and started rubbing her temples.

"There's so much work to be done. I can't take a day off now! The Gala's only a week away! I still have to-"

I placed a hoof on her lips, but she kept rambling as if it wasn't there. I honestly think she was so exhausted she either didn't notice or didn't care. However, my mood was lightening because this was making me struggle to keep a straight face. She kinda sounded like the Pyro in Team Fortress 2 when she did that, and given Valve's release of Meet the Pyro a few months ago, while I was still an amnesiac... Frigoris, on the other hand, kept switching between watching me and her with his completely blank expression while this transpired. Remind me never to challenge him to a game of poker.

"Mmphfmmphmm-" Luna was saying, and then I removed my hoof, "-and I have to-" and then I replaced it, "mrphrmphmmph."

I looked over at Frigoris, giving him a cheeky little grin. He retaliated with a death glare, and we spent the next few seconds exchanging elevating degrees of angry faces until he reverted to a blank stare that seemed a lot more… intense… than his earlier one. Okay, I give up. He wins. Now it's time for me to put on my big colt pants and defuse Luna.

I leaned down to her ear and started to mutter into it softly.

"Luna? Tia can handle it. She's had to handle it for the past thousand years. I think she can handle it another year."

I saw Frigoris turn his head, then promptly lower it out of the corner of my eye, and I turned to see. Celestia herself was walking in, her usual Solar Guard entourage notably absent.

"Sister, what is going on with preparations for the Gala?" she asked in a slightly alarmed voice as she cantered on in, concern for her younger sibling etched all over her face. "I have heard tell from the servants that it does not go well. Do you need me to step in and finish it?"

Luna's eyes unfocused even more than they were for a moment, and that was all of an answer Celestia needed.

"I suppose giving you the entire event to coordinate was a little too much for your first year," she said, her voice lowering to a gentler, kinder tone. "However, you have done fantastic. More than half of it is ready, and we can take it easy for the next week."

I rolled my eyes. One more week before I had to put up with all the hoity toity rich assholes. Excepting, of course, Fancypants and Fleur de Lis. Under normal circumstances, I would not attend, but according to Luna, it was tradition that guests of the Royal Family to attend events with the Royal Family during their stay, unless business should coincide. And Luna also told me that my being present would brighten the proceedings for her considerably. Celestia had invited Twilight Sparkle some two years previously, and she had brought her friends, but let's just say the Gala didn't go as planned that year. According to Luna, she hadn't attended back then because she had been overseeing the relocation of the remaining Nightmares from Midnight Castle, her castle on the moon, to Canterlot Castle. Apparently, they all shared a laugh when they saw the havoc wreaked.

Celestia noticed my eyeroll.

"Flare, I understand your dislike of the Gala, given how you have been treated most recently, but the Gala has its purpose. Shall I explain the history and purpose of the Gala?" she asked. A history lesson? Well, it couldn't hurt, I suppose. I nodded.

Celestia dipped her head, acknowledging my nod.

"Well, it starts a thousand years ago. I am sure you may have wondered why the capital of Equestria was moved between the banishing of Nightmare Moon and now, and this is deeply rooted in that. See, back then, there were essentially only two categories of citizens. Royalty, like me and the nobles, and Peasantry, everyone else. Nobles were typically placed in charge of cities as little more than an overseer back then, so everyone stayed mostly the same."

She gave a slight cough.

"After Luna was banished," Luna stiffened slightly, "I couldn't bring myself to inhabit a castle built for both of us, so I decided to abandon the Old Castle. I needed somewhere to build a new castle, and the city of Unicornia, quite frankly, placed a bid as it were. Negotiations began among the other towns and cities for where I should settle and raise a new capital."

I have never been a fan of history, as it were. I always preferred science and numbers. However, despite that fact, I actually found this history lesson very interesting.

"It was a long process, but eventually Unicornia did win out, but as part of stipulations before I could move there, after all it is important for a monarch to keep her subjects happy, Unicornia would change its name to something more balanced among the races of Equestria. Then name 'Canterlot' was chosen. However, there were several stipulations I had to follow as well. One of which was the establishment of a celebration where I would associate with the common peasantry, that being the Summer Sun Celebration, and against my will, they decided to have it take place every year on the day I defeated Nightmare Moon."

Luna grew tense again. Mental note, ask why she takes this event so hard. From what I understand, she seemed rather forward about it on Nightmare Night a few months ago.

"When the Upper Class heard of this stipulation, they came forward saying that, in the interest of fairness, I should also have an event where I would socialize with them exclusively, as I did with the peasantry. Of course, the peasantry did not take this lightly, but they took it with better grace than I had anticipated. Eventually, a compromise was worked out that, since the Upper Class had the means to travel, but the Peasantry did not, the Summer Sun Celebration would change location every year, but the Grand Galloping Gala would have one fixed location, that being Canterlot, though for a few years half a century ago we tried holding it in Manehattan. Long story short, it didn't go as well. In any case, the rest, as they say, is history."

Well, at least now I know why we have to go to this damn thing, and that, if I'm still here, I'll have to go through this every year, so long as I am Luna's coltfriend and/or a guest of the Royal Family.

That sound you just heard was me having a total hit-my-head-on-the-post-of-my-four-poster-bed moment from the realization that not only is this the first of many times I have to go to this "Swimming In Bits Competition," I have to attend to the "Suck Up To Celestia Festival" as long as Luna and I are together, and that's not even counting the time I have to spend preparing the "Kiss The Princesses' Collective Asses Party."

Luna eyed me from under her messed-up mane and giggled when she saw me head-post. I think she could tell what I was thinking. She's like my mom was on a much more personal scale. My mom used to know what I was doing even when she wasn't looking. Luna knows what I'm thinking, and I don't even have to say anything.

And that saves me from my sticking my hoof into my mouth most of the time, which, as I'm sure you know, is a lot.

Frigoris eyed my alarm radio, which was showing it was half past noon.

"Well, Imbrium and Crisium are going to spar in a few minutes. As much as I would love to stay and make sure she's alright, and as much as I hate to admit it, she's in good hooves."

He cantered off. Celestia gave a small nod of her head that told me to go ahead and follow. I raised an eyebrow.

"I want to chat with my sister alone, if that's okay with you. It's just something only we can discuss because it's something only we understand."

WARNING: CAPTAIN OBVIOUS MOMENT! It may or may not have something to do with the fact that they're the only beings alive who can remember well the times a thousand years ago.

Well, I started to follow Nightmare Frigoris to the sparring hall, though I didn't go and catch up with him. I wanted time to calm down from the earlier remarks. I was still a bit angry.

It was while I was passing the kitchens that it happened.

There was a sound like a rushing wind and a bright flash of light, and suddenly my vision went black. I looked around wildly, but I was trapped in an inky blackness in all directions. A solid surface, however, did seem to be under my hooves.

Of all the sounds to hear in this realm, the one I least expected to ring out could be heard. However, given who has a penchant for dramatic flair, I probably should have expected to hear Tenebrae laughing in a mocking tone.

"Hello Flare Dancer," he said, as the blackness gave way to reveal him, sitting in his usual invisible-hammock pose.

[A]

Rather than give the usual and cliché response to shout the villain's name as though you needed a reminder of what his name is, I simply gave him a flat stare.

"You seem displeased to see me," he commented dryly.

"Yeah, no shit," I countered. I normally reserved my profanity for times of stress. And the earlier Grand Galloping Gala annoyances, coupled with this most recent interruption fit the bill.

"Well, welcome to the realm in which my not-so-humble abode stands," he said, gesturing at the landscape. I decided to go ahead and get a proper look at it.

The sky was a dark mixture of pink and purple streaks, not unlike some sunsets. Black clouds were arrayed here and there around the sky, and the source of light was a ball of whiteness about the size and brightness of the sun that shone high overhead.

The ground seemed to be made of rock, and it was definitely floating in the air, as were several small islands of this same substance. Underneath them, however, was a darkness that I couldn't see through.

"If you are wondering, it is bottomless," Tenebrae said, following my gaze.

I looked back up, and saw a sort of castle behind him. Unlike Canterlot Castle, its spires were far from straight and bright. They were twisted and convoluted. The castle as a whole seemed to be made of onyx stone, and it looked like what you might expect the last level in a Final Fantasy game to look like.

A hint about the last place I have to go to in this story I seem to be stuck in? Possibly.

"Can you send me back? I was kinda on my way to watch something a lot more pleasant than listening to your spew about world domination."

Tenebrae rolled his eyes.

"You were going to watch two of the Nightmares spar. Remember, I've been watching you. Interesting how you paid a visit to your old home a few months ago. And all that just for an iPod. Is it really worth that much to you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head.

"Just a way to kill time."

He shook his head, causing his spikes to fly around for a few moments.

"Well, I can tell you've been preparing for the Grand Galloping Gala. Funny, considering how I'm indirectly responsible for its existence. If you would be so kind as to tell the princesses I have the intent of attending. With or without an invitation."

Figures.

I stared blankly at him again.

"How about no? You crazy, Dutch bastard," I said, doing my best Doctor Evil impersonation. Yeah, I'm an Austin Powers fan at the same time as being a James Bond fan. So send me to the moon.

Remind me not to say that around Luna.

Tenebrae caught the reference. He gave a slight chuckle. I must say, it makes him seem like a lot less of a plothole when he laughs at something not having to do with violence. I'm rather surprised he did, too. I thought he considered himself above such things as learning Earth culture.

"I give you credit for using that one, but it was a rather childish and immature response."

The retort is too good to pass up. I do, after all, resemble that remark.

"That's not what your mother said, last night," I remarked, with a slight grin.

Tenebrae rolled his eyes again, although he still had a slight smile. He had to have seen that one coming.

"I suppose you're wondering why I brought you here," he said. "Well, truthfully, I've finally shaken up the barriers around Equestria to the point where I have the power to yank one of you and your pony folk out of your world and put him or her into another one. Sound familiar?"

If he's referring to how I got here, how does he only just now have that power, if he put me here in the first place?

"And now you're probably wondering how I could put you here if the previous statement is true, if I know you well enough. Well, all I did was slip you in through a sliver of an opening in Lux's protection. That sliver was large enough for me to slip my hand through it, but I couldn't yank anyone out at the time. Compare it to one of those traps where you put a ball in a box, and when the monkey tries to grab the ball, it can't pull its hand out."

Did Tenebrae just call himself a monkey? I started to struggle not to laugh.

"What are you laughing at now?" he asked, starting to look annoyed.

"You just called yourself a monkey," I said, starting to let out little chuckles. This was just too funny. Well, actually it's not, but how often does your sworn enemy walk right into a trap like that?

Tenebrae let out an exasperated groan and started to rub his temples.

"Why oh WHY did I have to pick such an immature brat for this job?"

I opened my mouth to retort again, but he was too quick to say, "Don't even think about it."

I let out a small hmph. I was going to say that it wasn't a job if I wasn't getting paid for it, but no. He had to spoil it.

"So, exactly why did you bring me here? It's not like you to schedule visits like this for idle chatter and me insinuating that I've _known _your nonexistent mother."

Tenebrae shook his head again, his spikes dancing wildly, as if to shake himself out of a trance.

"Well, partly to gloat that I can do that now, but also, I seem to have missed my earlier appointment with you, and I am here to rectify that situation. Put up your dukes, because you're here for your at-my-discretion beating."

I gave Tenebrae a flat stare. If he had been watching me as he says he has, wouldn't he know that now I can regularly land hits on Captain Squall? Which is something thus far only Nightmares Crisium, Imbrium, Insularum, and Frigoris have been able to attain. Naturally, they surpass me in combat by varying degrees, but it's comforting to know that now my fighting prowess can match the average Nightmare. I guess that's what Captain Squall does to you.

/[A]\

Suddenly, the sky darkened significantly. It went from pink-and-purple sunrise-y colors to a setting more befitting of a demigod of darkness. And it got considerably colder.

Almost as if Tenebrae had used the "Hail" ability from Pokemon, only without-

-without the hail…

Pokemon…

What was it the Captain had said? The greatest weapon of a Pegasus was his ingenuity?

Of course! I know how I can beat him now!

Tenebrae blended into the darkness well, but his pale skin, his red eyes, and the silver streaks in his hair and on his cloak gave him away. I suppose the same could be said of me. My red mane and tail give me away, as do my blue eyes. But what if…?

"Are you ready Flare Dancer? I'll give you a chance to show me just how much you've improved. I have no doubt you've gotten better, but I also have no doubt I'll be able to wipe the floor with you as easily as I had back on Equestria. Even with this limitation that I currently have on me from dragging you out of that world."

Heh, be careful what you wish for, Tenebrae.

[B]

First things first, diversions.

Using the techniques I learned from Captain Amazing, I felt the presence of the water in the air around me, and with little more than a thought, the droplets started to coalesce into clouds, which began to take the shapes I had in mind. The process was similar to Unicorn magic: simply will something to happen and it will, but Pegasi are limited to such substances as water and weather-related stuffs. But that doesn't mean we can mess with how light passes through the prisms that are water droplets.

In short order, I had six cloud versions of me standing by me. Now for some other tricks…

Tenebrae scowled.

"You insult me, Flare Dancer. You think I would believe those copies of yours are solid, and thus would be able to hit me? Pathetic. How do you think those can compare?"

I smirked. I had already worked the magic. Sure, Winter Weather magic's not really my thing, but even in my disability, I can still do some of the basics. Like freeze an ice block into a particular shape.

"Are you sure they're not solid?" I asked rather tantalizingly.

Tenebrae's scowl faltered, replaced by a flash of uncertainty. Gotcha right where I want ya.

Within a moment, his scowl had turned into a smirk. How typical! He must have thought he was truly invincible at that moment.

"Even if you were able to make them solid, it'd be incredibly difficult to control an ice sculpture of you, much less six. And then, they'd move around all clumsy like, and that's not to mention your complete incompetence at ice magic. You seem to have overestimated your own abilities, but I'll give you a few seconds to watch your pathetic attempt fail."

I didn't stop smirking. He had completely missed what I had done. Now all that's left is to beat him up.

With the mental direction, the six cloud-beings charged directly at Tenebrae, who started laughing. He definitely thought they were just cloud copies now, no ice magic involved.

But the moment one of my doppelgangers' hooves connected most solidly to his lower-left jaw, he was sent staggering backwards. He probably staggered more out of shock than out of the power of the hit. He clearly wasn't expecting a physical blow.

"Wha-!" was all he managed to get out before one of the copies, the only one that had run around behind him, nailed him on the back of the head and sent him forward, right back to the group.

He was better prepared this time, and he made a practiced swing at my copies' heads. However, what he did _not _expect was for his fist to go right through the copy's head, unbalancing him and spinning him around from the momentum of the punch. The look of utter shock was unmistakable. He had clearly been expecting some kind of curveball from me in terms of combat, but I threw a knuckleball instead.

That, and his overconfidence which had given me the opportunity to prepare. And now he was reaping what he had sown.

Every time he managed to get back to his feet and take a wild swing at one of my copies, it went right through them. But he couldn't just ignore them and come after me, which would have been the way to make them stop what they were doing. If he did, he would have been beaten to a bloody pulp by the copies.

He was smart enough to realize the hooves were solid, however, and in a flash of purple light, he had summoned his bat-wing-sword and swung it at one of the hooves of the cloud versions of me. Unfortunately, all it took was another little mental direction to make the part of the hoof he was swinging at intangible, and of course, he swung right through it, spinning himself around wildly once again. Letting go of that second command, the hoof became solid again and it connected just under his chin.

I don't know what was more satisfying: watching Tenebrae react in as positive of disbelief as it is possible to be in when you're reacting from a punch, or the fact that my loyal minions (mwahahahaha!) are dishing out the pain like Cordon Bleu dishes out the food to Celestia at the Royal Dinner Time.

Tenebrae started thinking rather cleverly here. Sure, he was in a half-panic at all of his attacks going right through my small task force. In a blast of energy, a shockwave of purple magic exploded outward from him, ending about ten yards away from me. I had backed up to watch the action from a safe distance.

However, as best I can tell, he didn't quite think it through well enough. The blast of magic went right through the intangible masses of cloud, and the hoof-shaped ice blocks that I had in the hooves melted down. But they were rather easy to reform, even from a distance. And as if nothing had happened, the attacks resumed.

Suddenly, Tenebrae reared back and threw his little sword directly at me. I dodged to the side, but the slight waver in concentration caused me to drop my minions.

They vanished in a slight splash of water, and Tenebrae was on me. He dove right at me, but before he could pin me, I myself reared back and threw my first lightning punch at an actual enemy.

And I hit him in the face.

Unfortunately, pure energy connecting with magical energy is apparently not a good idea. An explosion occurred where the hit happened, blasting me full-force. I was thrown backward, and I fell off of the floating island of rock I had been standing on.

I fell through the air for several meters in total panic, flailing and spinning wildly, and my wings wouldn't open. I was hurtling through the darkness, and I was certain that this was it. I had the briefest glimpse of something slightly blue-ish rushing at my face before-

BAM!

And suddenly, everything was gone.

/[B]\

-X-

I lay there for several moments, not totally sure whether I was dead or alive. I had fallen unconscious, and I'm not totally sure just how long I had been out. My entire face ached, and I'm pretty sure my snout absolutely ignited in flames when I touched it.

I couldn't help myself, and I let out a loud cry of pain. I knew it hurt, but I had to probe a little more to get some scope of the damage.

The more I felt, the more relieved I felt that I was still alive. My nose felt broken, and blood was still pouring out of it, running down over my mouth and dripping onto the ground. And speaking of broken bones and my mouth, I felt four places that hurt more than other places did on my jawline, and I'm sure I may have broken a few bones there, as well.

One of my eyes was absolutely swollen shut, and the other one could barely see. I looked around to see where I was, and I saw the island I had fallen from floating above me, though without depth perception, it's really hard to tell how far away. I had landed on another floating rocky island face first (seriously? You've made it a running gag that I have to faceplant on a rock in every single encounter!? What the hell, author? I thought you treated your OCs better than that!), and if I had been falling a little more to the left or right, I would have likely fallen until I found out exactly what was at the bottom of this realm, or until I stopped panicking long enough to start flying again.

Speaking of flying, my wings were battered and bruised, but otherwise they were unharmed. For that, I am most thankful. I started to fly up to the original island, feeling the nerves in my back, the ones that sensed my wings, protest with aches and pains. I groaned, but I persisted.

Finally, I managed to make it to the island above my landing zone.

The stone from where the explosion had occurred had been absolutely flattened by the force of it, as opposed to the grooves, ridges, and notches in the rocks around the location. I could only see a few meters past the far end of the blast zone, and there was no sign of Tenebrae.

I started moving forward cautiously, in case he decided to attack from the darkness still surrounding me. I know his streaks give him away and all, but I'm missing over 50% of my vision right now.

Eventually, I saw him, lying on the ground, unconscious just like I was. Unlike earlier encounters, where he seemed to not have a scratch on him, despite what had been thrown his way, he looked an absolute mess.

His cloak was absolutely drenched in blood (if he even bleeds actual blood. The gods in Greek mythology bled a substance called ichor) and ripped & tattered in several places, his face was torn up, and his entire self looked like an absolute train wreck.

Even as I watched, he stirred, let out a groan, opened his eyes, and started to sit up. His red eyes looked very bleary, but neither one was swollen shut.

He caught sight of me, and he started to giggle. I honestly thought he had gone insane there, but he hadn't.

"You look like shit," he bluntly said, grinning malevolently. He stood up with some difficulty while he said it, stumbling a bit from the poor coordination.

"You're one to talk," I retorted, gesturing for him to look at himself.

His grin vanished, and he conjured up a small mirror to examine himself. His look of surprise turned to one of outrage.

"You… You'll pay for this!" he thundered. He really couldn't handle anything that tarnished his looks, could he?

I shifted back into a fighting stance, preparing to throw another lightning punch if I had to. I was much further in this time, and based on how far he flew, I'd end up right back in the blast zone if I did it again, which meant I would be in worse shape, but it's better than being dead.

Tenebrae scoffed when he saw me, and he raised an arm. However, rather than the usual aura of purple magic that would appear, a small purple spark winked into existence, and then promptly vanished,

Tenebrae looked at his hand with absolute disbelief on his face.

"Wow. I've never expended that much energy in a fight before. I guess that's why I'm beat up like this. I ran out of energy to use on magic and to keep me healed up. Congratulations, Flare Dancer. You're the first person to actually leave real marks on me who isn't a deity."

He let out a small cough before continuing, "but you know, you could be doing so much better than that. Your favorite captain isn't teaching you what you have the potential to know. He's been holding out on you this entire time he's been teaching you Pegasi magic techniques."

"Lies," I spat (quite literally, given the rushing blood).

"No, not lies. He lied when he told you there were no advanced techniques Pegasi can use in combat. Haven't you ever wondered if you could possibly contain the lightning before you punched it? Absorbed its energy? Or better yet, use it to make you faster and more powerful?"

I froze. I have wondered if that were possible, but I never actually asked the Captain about them. Could he really be…?

Tenebrae looked down, smirking.

"Heh, do you want to know why he lies? It's quite simple really. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out."

"If you want to tell me, then shut the buck up and tell me already!" I shouted at him.

"Ooh, I seem to have touched a nerve. Very well then, I'll tell you. And I'll enjoy it while I do so. You see, do you remember back when you first arrived in Equestria, after we first got acquainted? Do you remember what Princess Celestia said, about you staying in Canterlot?"

I do. She wanted me to teach Luna about making friends, and she'd teach me back about Pegasi magic.

"Didn't she say she'd put a spell on you so she could monitor you? Didn't she say that she didn't want you to feel like a prisoner?"

She did say that. I remember! But why does that matter to him?

"But did she ever actually put the spell in question on you?"

No… No, she never did…

"No she did not. She never put it on you. And you went thus to Canterlot. And you were told you would be allowed to roam freely as long as you took part in your lessons, correct?"

Something like that…

"Don't you find it rather fishy that you were never actually permitted to go anywhere on your own, and yet, when you tried, did you not find some official of the Royal Family watching you the entire time, or even going so far as to prevent you from going?"

The time I went to lunch my second day, after lessons! Celestia herself met me while I was going out! But what about later that day when I stayed in the library- duh. Twilight Sparkle used to stay there almost all the time. The librarian would have been really friendly with the Princess. And that time before the Harvest Festival, where I asked if I could visit Vanhoover or San Franciscolt on a day off! Celestia wouldn't let me go, even though Luna vouched for me, but when I tried to go anyway, Captain Squall had to send the Pegasi guards to stop me. And then the night after my fight with Frigoris… he even admitted Luna put him up to it.

"You see, Flare Dancer? Despite their insistences that you are a guest and not a prisoner, they have been keeping you as one this entire time.

"They have been lying to you since you first entered Equestria. They're quite afraid of the potential danger a human with that kind of power could bring to Eques-"

"ENOUGH!" I finally shouted, sick of hearing this.

With a mental direction, six cloud copies of me appeared and charged, all about to simultaneously punch Tenebrae. Tenebrae reacted just as fast. He said something I couldn't hear and pointed at me. When the hooves of the cloud copies were only inches away, there was a streak of purple light that hit me in the chest, and suddenly, everything went completely black.

-X-

Tenebrae stared after the spot where he had vanished, then let out a heavy sigh and wiped the water from his face. The sky had already started to brighten again, and he wanted to see just how that whelp had managed to do that much damage to him.

He was now standing in a puddle, where the cloud water had all converged when it was released from his control. As he looked around for the source of how he had made them solid, yet intangible, he saw several small rocks lying in the puddles, and they were coated in ice in the shape of the end of a hoof, which was melting rapidly.

He stared at the ice-covered rocks, then started laughing. He had fallen for a stupid little trick. That explained everything. The clouds were actually intangible, and they matched his color with refracted light. When he had tried to cut the solid part with his sword, Flare Dancer had just moved that shape further up the hoof, out of his reach.

Tenebrae stayed staring at them for several seconds, but he finally retreated to his castle to care for his wounds.

Direct contact with Flare Dancer was starting to get too risky, he thought. Perhaps next time, he would need to try a more alternative means of forcing him to stay out of his way than just mindlessly beating him up.

Nevertheless, today's encounter was too close, and you can count on the fact that he will never let it come this close again.

-X-

Color returned to my vision, and I found myself in the Entry Hall of Canterlot Castle. I swayed for a bit, but I soon lost the strength to stand, and I collapsed onto the ground, vaguely aware of the nobles and Upper Class, who were still preparing for the Gala, beginning to panic and starting to summon the princesses.

Everything sort of devolved into a blur for a while after that. I could hear ponies asking me questions and I could see their faces, but I couldn't really comprehend either of the two, be it who was asking the questions, or what they were asking.

I saw a familiar blurry patch of navy blue in a cylinder-shape, and I felt myself be lifted into the air as everything in my vision turned blue as well. I was aware that I and this mysterious being were moving, but to where I had no idea.

I suddenly felt something warm and soft on my back, and I started to relax as the blue vanished in my vision.

I was looking up, and a navy-blue pony with a flowing deep blue mane was looking down at me with absolute terror. Another pony, a sort of crème-colored one with red hair was levitating a spoon full of some liquid in front of my face. She said something, but I didn't understand.

She said it again, a little more frantically, as did the blue pony.

SMACK!

Everything returned to clarity as my cheek erupted into sharp pain.

"OW! What the bucking Tartarus!?" I shouted as I recoiled from the attack. The smack had ignited the pain in my snout, and I shut my eyes, feeling tears well up in them.

"Sorry," I heard Luna's apologetic voice say, "but you weren't responding."

"Drink this. It'll help you return to clarity better than that slap did, and it'll also help numb the pain," said a rather brisk and dull female voice said. I opened my eyes and turned back to them. The nurse pony still had the spoon full of liquid in front of my face.

I had serious trouble gulping it down. A broken jaw really sucks. Also the medicine tasted like that grape flavor of cough medicine that doesn't actually taste like grapes.

"Wh- where am I?" I asked, looking around blearily. I was in the Hospital Wing of the Castle; of that I was certain, despite only having come here twice before (both after sessions with Captain Squall), but I had never been in this room before, nor seen this nurse before. I looked to the foot of the bed I was sleeping in.

The nurse was already going off to get gauze and bandages to wipe up my face, but- oh, Luna…

Luna looked like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears, though whether from relief or fear I have no idea. She looked like she was mixed between the two, and I could tell she was struggling not to break down in front of me.

"How long was I gone?" I asked softly.

"S-s-several hours. You walked out of the r-room, right behind Frigoris. We stayed in there for a while, talking, a-and when we were done, we went to try to find you. But we couldn't find you anywhere, and nopony had seen you anywhere around Canterlot over the last few hours. Frigoris said you hadn't even shown up to watch that fight, even though you had expressed interest in going t-to see it. Wh-"

She hiccupped.

"Where were you? What happened?"

I took a deep breath and started to explain where I had been. However, before I had gotten more than a few sentences in, Princess Celestia, followed closely by Captain Squall burst into the room, scaring the nurse and causing her to knock over several boxes of bandages and gauze that were on her counter.

"Luna! What is happening? Nightmare Humorum said they found Flare-" started Tia, but she was quickly interrupted by Captain Squall.

"We can talk to him later, your highness! Right now, the safety of Canterlot and the populace is our number one concern! Get the damn force field up before something happens that we'll regret!"

They started trying to shout over each other, in an attempt to make their point heard. Unfortunately, it had to happen. Luna gave me an apologetic look as a warning, and I clapped my hooves over my ears, wincing at the slight pain.

**_"BE SILENT, BOTH OF YOU!"_** she thundered, loud enough and forceful enough that both Celestia and Captain Squall immediately shut up.

"Thank-you," I commented dryly to Luna.

She gave me a soppy smile, but turned back to Tia and Squall and said, "There are better places for this discussion than right in front of my coltfriend, who quite frankly needs some bed rest. Let us take this outside."

Celestia said nothing. She clearly resented being commanded, or perhaps she was just not used to it. In any case, she gave Luna a hard, flat stare before turning around and cantering out. Captain Squall hurried after her, and they both were followed by Luna, who, before she was out of the entryway, turned and said, "I'm sorry about this. I'll be back as soon as possible."

I nodded rather weakly and she exited, shutting the door.

The nurse, who had been picking up after the mess (and promptly made it worse when the Royal Canterlot Voice was introduced to the conversation), came back to me, carrying another bottle of medicine, and a spoonful of it.

"Drink this. It'll help you get some sleep."

Sleep? Was it that late?

I turned to look out the window at the far end of the room. It was the first time I had managed to get a good look at the room properly, and I saw that there were several empty beds in two lines against the marble walls. A large window was at the end of the room, and a glorious sunset shone through it.

Eight hours. I had been gone eight hours. I know because it was just before noon when I stormed off from the Entry Hall.

Soon, I felt drowsiness overtake me, and I let myself drift into the warm, comfortable embrace of sleep.

-X-

"Tia, be reasonable! He was just attacked!"

"Princess Celestia, I must agree with your sister! Flare Dancer is in no condition to be interroga-"

"If it threatens the safety of my society, then I have no choice, Captain and Luna! I have to know who it was that did this! I know we all have the same suspicion, but we also need to know exactly how it happened! If we don't know what we're up against, we can't possibly work up a defense against him when he does deign us with a reappearance, and we know he will!"

"But that doesn't explain why you have to go and wake him up! Nurse Joy already told us she put him out an hour and a half ago!"

Lux damn it, you three. I was having a good dream, too. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the window. The sky was now almost completely dark, with a few lighter shades of blue at the horizon.

I sat up in my bed, noticing that my snout was covered in bandages, although I could still communicate, and that the rest of my body was feeling rather numb.

Looks like that anesthetic did work, after all. I gingerly probed my snout. There was a dull pain there, but not as much as before.

The door banged open again, and Luna, Celestia, and Captain Squall all hurried into the room. Luna looked very resentful, Tia looked determined (if a mess), and the Captain maintained a rather calm demeanor.

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off.

"Before you ask, can you please refrain from yelling? I think I've had enough of it today."

My voice came out muffled from the bandages. I'm sorry Luna. Now I know what it's like to sound like the Team Fortress 2 Pyro.

Celestia stood there for a moment, with her mouth wide open, but closed it a moment later, and nodded.

"Of course. I apologize for the earlier shouting match. It's just some of us," and here she gave Luna a look, "are a bit more concerned with a rather selfish desire rather than the good of the many-"

"Wanting us to not disturb somepony who is in a terrible state is a selfish desire now, is it!?"

"If you consider the good of one over the good of many, then yes, Luna! Yes it is!"

Luna opened her mouth to retort, but Captain Squall held out a hoof and whispered something to her that appeared to mollify her for the time being.

Celestia took a moment to calm down, and then turned back to me.

"Simply put, we need to know what happened. We need to know what we have to do to protect both you and the ponies of Equestria from Tenebrae."

Her countenance softened considerably.

"I'm really sorry about interrogating you like this. But we must know. So, if you could please start from when you left your room, please explain exactly what happened."

I looked at all three of them (and I felt a little more shaky than usual, especially when I looked at Luna), took a rather weary breath, and I started where I had attempted to with Luna an hour and a half ago.

I told them everything I remember about the encounter, even the parts where Tenebrae and I exchanged banter before the battle. When I started to describe the fight, I left no detail out. I told them how I took the idea for the fighting from the Double Team and Ice Punch attacks on Pokemon, and how effective they were. I paid the most attention to Captain Squall during this point in time. When I described the fight in detail, I saw he looked more than a bit impressed. He caught me looking, and he gave me a nod, and he commented, "Well-done. An impressive combination that was undoubtedly effective."

Then I described Tenebrae's panicked throwing of his blade, and the events thereafter. When I got to the part about my lightning punch hitting him and causing an explosion, I stopped my flashback.

"Why did that happen? Do you have any idea?" I asked, more to the Princesses than Squall, but it was Squall who responded.

"Well, all magic is, at its core, manipulated energy. Tenebrae must be so powerful that he gives off his own energy. Now, I trust you understand the workings of a magnet? Like charges repel. You'll find that lightning, which is composed of a rather unbalanced energy but energy nonetheless, contains a very great force of energy, and when your energy and his collided, the energy repelled itself as fast as it could. Hence an explosion."

I nodded, and continued on to what had happened after.

And then I arrived at the part where Tenebrae started his spew. I stopped talking, and I started to scowl.

"Princess, you remember how you said you were going to put a spell on me to monitor me while I was here?"

Luna and Squall both instantly snapped their attention to Celestia, who drew back slightly.

"Yes, I did say that, but befo-"

"You never put that spell on me! You said I would be free to roam, but every time I try to go somewhere, I find you or someone else there to watch or stop me! You lied to me! You've been keeping me as a prisoner this entire time!"

Celestia looked very askance at me shouting, especially considering I had been so averse to it earlier. Captain Squall, however, couldn't idly sit by any longer.

"You go too far, boy!"

I rounded on him.

"And you! You've been lying as well! You told me there's no such thing as an advanced technique, and that only my mind could provide those! You haven't been teaching me everything I need to know if I want to protect my marefriend over there!"

Squall drew back, surprise on his face. He clearly had not expected me to retort, considering I usually took his words to heart immediately.

Squall's face darkened, and he whirled about and exited the room.

"Where's he going? Luna asked.

Celestia's voice was bitter, and she clearly hated the words she spoke.

"He's going to tell Prince Shining Armor to put up a force field, something he's been telling me to do since Flare returned-"

Force field. It's not for protection. It's to keep me trapped in Canterlot.

And that, ladies, gentlemen, mares, and gentlecolts, is the last straw.

In a matter of seconds, my bandages had been torn off and I was flying at top speed at the window.

"Wha- Flare! No!" I heard Luna shout after me, but I was in no mood to listen this time.

With a crash, I had broken out, and I was flying as fast as I could. I didn't care which direction. Just _away_.

I heard a small humming and I paused to turn and look. I saw a beam of magenta magical energy shoot upward from a tower and start to form the force field, and I immediately shot off, seeking to get out before it closed.

The force field developed fast, but I managed to slip under it just before it closed Canterlot off from the rest of Equestria. I watched it shut behind me, and I sped off as fast as I could. Where, I don't know. All that mattered is being free.

-X-

I stared after Flare for several seconds before rounding on Tia.

"That was handled well," I said, doing my best to restrain my fury, but I was failing spectacularly. I felt like the sun paled in comparison to my burning anger.

Tia gave me a look of sincere regret.

"I have actually put that spell on him. I just did it while he was under a magical sleep. I put him on it right after the two of you met. It's not a comfortable spell to receive, but I know exactly where he is at, so long as it is within a few hundred miles."

"You still could have cut him off with, if nothing else, the Royal Canterlot Voice! Now look what you've done! I'm going to have a word with Captain Squall before he retires tonight!"

Tia gave me another long look.

"Will you be handling the duties of the night? Or are you mentally compromised at the moment?" she asked, sounding very concerned. It wasn't insulting because she knew I was an expert judge of my own emotional capacity.

I shook my head.

"Take them. I'll find him and talk to him in the morning. You both have some explaining to do to him when I bring him back. And even when you tell him the truth, he will probably not trust you for a long time."

Tia nodded, as if to say, "I understand."

"Good. I will be in my bedchamber. And you should know, until I bring him back, and he is completely recuperated, we will_ not _be discussing this. At all. In fact, until he is brought back, I will not be speaking with either of you, seeing as how this little incident is going to affect _our _relationship, which only we should decide. Am I clear, sister?"

She gave a deep sigh, letting her head droop, and said, "Yes." I was surprised. Normally, she doesn't follow suggestions like that, even if they are in the harshest of tones. Either she trusts that I'm doing the right thing, or she feels responsible and is trying to make it up.

Or C, all of the above, or D, some other option I haven't thought of yet.

In any case, I drew myself up to my fullest height and said, "Good. Enjoy the night, sister."

And I left, head held high, not waiting for a response.

* * *

_Well, I had to open with a bang, and considering last chapter was serious, I had to make this one almost 100% comical._

_Wait._

_Strike that, reverse it, thank-you. (If you recognize the reference, you officially get five really enticing and very aromatic chocolate chip muffins, which could potentially be smelled in other universes. If Derpy steals them, I am in no way responsible.)_

_Also, my note above about how Aladdin takes place 10k years in the future? True story. Since the genie can only come out every 10k years, and he has an awareness of the celebs of today and even does impersonations, he had to have come out in today's times. Meaning Aladdin takes place in post-apocalyptic Earth. Yeah, say goodbye to your childhood 90s kids.  
_

_I was at Brony Fan Fair this past weekend, and I cosplayed as The Doctor (David Tennant). I got to meet General Zoi (maker of that pony generator that YOU ALL HAVE USED AND YOU KNOW IT), Rina-Chan ( 's Twilight Sparkle), Celestia Radio, Paleo, and Pony Kart._

**_And I also got to play Fighting is Magic, but that's not important_**_._

_Well, thank you for reading this chapter and all previous ones. Now back to your regularly scheduled previews._

_Preview for Chapter 8: Rest And Recuperation_

_"Flare, I'm pregnant. And you're the father."  
"Wh-WHAT!?"_

_"Wha-? Where am I?"  
"Flare, you're in Los Pegasus. And I'm pretty sure you're drunk."  
"WHAT AM I DOING IN LOS PEGASUS!?"_

_"Lux damn it Flare! Get back here!"_

_"Flare, I'm pregnant, and Captain Squall's the father."  
"Seriously? You already made that joke."_

_"Flare, why are you putting a jalapeno into Rainbow Dash's mailbox?"  
"Dashies love pepper. They hate cinnamon."_

_"So, are we reconciled?"  
"Yes, sister. We are."_

_"Flare, I'm pregnant, and Frigoris-"  
"DO NOT EVEN GO THERE!"_

_See you all next chappie!_


	8. Rest And Recuperation

_**A Stranger Among Them  
Chapter 8: Rest And Recuperation**_

_Music for today's chapter. I could not find a single extended version of either track._

_A. Super Mario Galaxy "Wind Garden"_

_B. The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword "Romance in the Air"_

_Well, I'm starting to catch my stride here in the story. Maybe I'm not going any faster, but I have everything starting to work out and fit into place._

_Well, On with Chapter 8. This one's going to be a bit more shipping-centric. Just warning you guys now, for those who prefer plot-centric, or action-centric chappies._

_In any case, allons-y!_

* * *

I entered the rather seedy tavern. Why he chose this place to fly to, I'll never know, but at least it's good to know that Tia's monitoring spell works. Last night, she decided to switch the receiver of the spell to me as per my request.

The tavern was mostly empty, but it seemed all the more rundown because of it. The walls had that plastic panel that is painted to look like wood, but they were cracked and depressing. The lights in the room were flickering or out. The only reason I could see is because the windows were open and it was morning outside.

The only other conscious pony in the pub was a purple Earth Pony with three stars for a cutie mark. His mane was a darker purple than his body, and it shimmered like mine did. He looked at me with clear blue eyes as I entered, and he promptly lowered his head a little bit before turning back to a black-coated Pegasus with a red tail, who was slumped over the bar, mumbling an incoherent string of nonsense.

I turned to the other pony.

"May I ask how long he has been here?"

The pony shrugged.

"Since last night," he said. His voice was light, and it had a bit of a singsong tone to it. "Burst in here, caused a huge ruckus, and generally raised havoc around here. The bar's normally not this empty, even in daytime, but he scared everyone off. Of course, that may be because some thugs attacked him and he sent them into the walls easily."

That explained the general shoddiness of the tavern.

It was then that I noticed a strange smell about the air, and it seemed to be coming from Flare. I sniffed down near his face, where it was the strongest, and without a doubt, the pungent odor of alcohol permeated the air. I lifted a hoof to my face and let out a heavy sigh. I won't envy him when the hangover hits.

And I'll have to tell Tia about Flare's spending of the Royal Allowance. That should brighten her day. I'm sure she remembers what happened in Canterbury that one night just as well as I do.

"May I ask your name, citizen?" I asked the other pony. He shrugged.

"I'm Twilight Sky. I help run the place, but I was off-duty last night."

Twilight… Sky? Could he be related to Twilight Sparkle? Well, he has a darker shade of purple for a coat, and his mane shimmers, but that really is about the only difference between him and her.

"Begging your pardon, but you wouldn't happen to have any relatives in Ponyville, would you?"

Sky tilted his head.

"Not that I know of. I do have a few second-cousins in Canterlot, though. My dad's first-cousin lives there. I hear one of them got married recently. Right during that nasty business with the Changelings and all."

Guess that explain it.

"Ah, then you are related to whom I think you are. So, what exactly happened to him?" I asked.

Sky yawned widely. His eyes looked slightly bloodshot, but he seemed rather chipper.

"Well, he burst in a little before midnight, but he mostly kept to himself at first. Only when Strong Arm and his thugs tried to mug him did the havoc start. They tried to get his money, see? And rather than comply, he punched Strong Arm into that wall over there," he gestured to the most destroyed wall of the pub, "and all Tartarus broke loose, 'cause most of the patrons here in one way or another work for Strong Arm, so a bar fight broke out. It was him against everypony else, see? And he whooped all o' them. Quite frankly, I'm glad they got beaten, because I doubt they'll show their faces here again, but I still have to clean the place up. However, I'm kinda surprised. He was throwing punches with _lightning _in them. I've only seen the military do that."

Flare is _so _getting a Royal Canterlot Voice lecture. He more than anypony knows not to treat military techniques with such flippancy, given his little bout of fisticuffs with Nightmare Frigoris. If the normal populace learn how to do these techniques, the job becomes harder for the Royal Guards to keep the peace because they soon become common faire. For example, the weather magic was normally not taught to untested ponies back when we still co-ruled Equestria. I come back a thousand years later to find that it is a rudimentary skill. Back then, the ability to control the weather was essential for maintaining order. The Insurrection was kept under control when we were forced to threaten to not send rain to their cities unless they stopped disturbing the peace.

"Anyway, he finishes chasing them off, and he falls on the bar and asks for something called _Jack Daniels_. I told him, 'We don't have _Jack Daniels_. We have Buck _Daniels, _but not _Jack._' He's all like, 'That'll do,' and he starts drinking. I gave him one on the house for his impressive display, but after that, he gave me bits straight up. Then he just collapsed after about an hour of incoherent raging."

Well, time for him to wake up. I leaned down by his ear and gently whispered, "Flare, it's time to wake up."

He stirred, groaned, and then promptly hiccupped. He hadn't completely healed from his e encounter yesterday, but one of the medicines he had taken seemed to be speeding the progress up dramatically. His previously swollen-over eye was now almost normal while his other eye had completely healed. His jaw and nose area, however, would still take about a week to fully reform.

"Wuzzapening?" he asked thickly, looking around blearily. While he usually just loves to act like he's out of it, he really seems like he actually is completely off in Wonderland at the moment. His general gait just oozes it. At least right up until he saw me, whereupon a drunken grin worked its way onto his face, though not one of malicious intent.

"Oh hey Lu-Lu! I was just enjoyin' me some _Buck Daniels_."

He's drunk. His voice was changing pitch rapidly, and his speech was somewhat slurred. And for the first time, I noticed his cheeks were looking a little on the colorful side. It seems he finally found a way to flush his cheeks: get hammered drunk. Sure it's only maybe a shade more red than it was, but it's there.

I facehoofed again with a slight sigh.

"Flare, how many have you had?"

Flare lolled his head and gave a little giggle.

"Just like, like three. Or was it four? Or maybe fourteen? I lost count. Isn't that funny, Lu? I lost count of how many drinks I had."

He fell off his stool, but that didn't seem to slow him down. He staggered to his hooves and started swaying while he worked his way over to me. Sky was enjoying the proceedings considerably from where Flare had just fell. He had in his hooves a small glass filled with what looked like a soda, which he was sipping with raised eyebrows.

"So Luna. Lu, Lu- Luna- Luna, Loony, look. I's just having some fun here. That one really big guy, what was his name? Bong Farm? Yeah, him. He bought me, like, ten drinks last night. Tha's just awesome, right Luna?"

Flare fell over again, and I heard a tinkling as an empty bottle of _Buck Daniels_ rolled out from under the stool. Suddenly, I've gone very cold. There were no shot glasses in view, not even in the sink. So when Flare says he had four drinks, or even fourteen, _he drank that many bottles of whiskey!_

"He only had four. I offered him a shot glass, but he just waved it off and took the bottles straight. I'll be honest, I've never seen a pony chug an entire bottle of whiskey before."

Flare just astounds me. It's official. He is literally just beyond the limits of my ability to understand. He's very thin for a stallion that can match an average alicorn for height, and yet he took four BOTTLES of whiskey!

Well, time to sober him up. What's something that could possibly-… Oh, I have just the thing.

I cantered over to him. He was swaying rather precariously from his current position on the floor, but he didn't even seem to notice.

"Flare, I'm pregnant. And you're the father."

He blinked a few times in relatively rapid succession, but overall, he didn't respond. I inwardly cursed at this. So drunk he doesn't even "Wh- WHAT!?"

A crashing of timbers brought me back to my senses in time for me to see Flare fall from the rafters to the ground. I looked over to Twilight Sky, whose eyebrows were still raised, and he was still sipping away, but he gestured from the ground, up, and back down.

I couldn't help it. I started laughing. Flare gave me a look of very deep annoyance while rubbing his head around the muzzle.

"Luna, if you want me sober, there are gentler ways to get me there!" he shouted at me in half-pain, half-annoyance. He wasn't slurring anymore, and his voice sounded steady. Guess it's true that a real shock can bring alcoholics out of drunkenness.

"What happened? The last thing I can remember is me getting really mad at Tia and Squall… and then nothing."

He started looking around, as if hoping something would trigger a flashback. However, none came to him, despite his looking around.

"Flare, you completely flew away from Canterlot. That's how angry you were. I had to spend all night tracking you down."

He looked bewildered by this.

"Wha-? Where am I?"

"Flare, you're in Los Pegasus. And I'm pretty sure you're drunk."

His eyes went wide, his irises contracted, and he reacted with total incredulity.

"WHAT AM I DOING IN LOS PEGASUS!?"

Well, if he was drunk when I told him he was, he sure isn't now.

"Well, we Equestria folk have a saying," I told him, the grin working its way onto my face. "What happens in Los Pegasus stays in Los Pegasus."

Flare sat on his flank, buried his face in his hooves, yelped a little because of his broken snout, and generally double-facehoofed. All the way.

"What the bucking _hell _did I do?" he kept muttering to himself, looking absolutely in panic. "Every time this happens in the movies, the protagonist ends up somehow getting married in front of some foreign minister and all that-"

"Flare, _relax!" _I said to him. He put his hooves down and fidgeted a little.

"Relax, mate. All you did were fall into a trance and mumble nonsense all night," said Sky, who had finished his drink and had set it in a nearby sink. "It's not like you did anything from _The Hayngover _or anything. Although, unless the princess brought transportation, you probably shouldn't be flying for the day. Don't need you crashing into the Cloudsdale Weather Factory and causing snow in the middle of the desert now," he added with a little twinkle in his eye, looking right at me.

I giggled. So Twilight Sky did know about that night in Canterbury. It was only a year and a half ago, after all.

"Well, I did bring transportation. The Night Carriage is waiting, and you'll be pleased to know that Nightmare Frigoris is one of the ones pulling it. I figured it would help brighten your day."

Flare laughed, but I wasn't quite finished.

"You know, he wasn't in the greatest of moods when you left. I had to listen to him the whole night. He sounded a lot more er… vicious than usual. Then when I asked if he was concerned about you, he scoffed and launched into a whole spew about how he wasn't. It's sweet, really. You two really are starting to grow on each other."

I led him outside, where sure enough, the Night Carriage sat, with Frigoris and Cognitum at the reins. Under battle circumstances, it would be crewed by four Nightmares, two to fight and two to chauffer, but since it was peacetime, there was only need for two.

Flare climbed in, hiccupped and staggered a little, and soon slumped against the back. I climbed in after him, and he promptly leaned against me, eyes drooping.

"You can sleep when we return to Canterlot Castle, Flare."

He stiffened and opened his mouth to speak, but I magicked it shut. He made a noise of annoyance and gave me his best impersonation of one of my flat looks. I do not exaggerate when I say it is a daily struggle not to start laughing when he's less than happy at something, even if it's something completely serious. However, given his recent drunkenness, coupled with what will undoubtedly go down between him and Frigoris on the way home, and I may very well bite my tongue off from trying not to laugh at him.

But, I have to be serious before the laughing time comes.

"I understand you have a bone to pick with Squall and my sister. Squall you can handle, but let me handle my sister. Trust me on this one."

He rolled his eyes, but he relaxed somewhat, and I released his mouth from my magic grip. He gave a small sputter, then promptly fell against me again, preparing to sleep again. I gave him a soft smile and covered him with my right wing. The moment could have lasted forever.

"Oh gag. Please tell me this isn't going to be the in-flight entertainment. I would rather watch Stepony Meyer's _Time-Just-Before-Nightfall Saga _again," drawled a certain Nightmare. I let out a heavy sigh and narrowed my eyes, while a half-smile, half-grimace worked its way onto my face.

Predictably, the snark-fest was on, and we hadn't even taken off yet. That had to be a record.

-X-

Canterlot came into sight about an hour into the flight. The barrier I had seen around the castle as I left was still up and running. However, Luna's Night Carriage passed through the barrier as if it weren't there. Rather than fly directly to the castle, the Carriage flew toward a more private landing that I had often flown by on my way to Luna's room for lessons and to generally annoy her.

The garage, for want of a better term to describe the place, was simply a plain round stone area with a wooden archway marking the transition from garage to castle. There were several small cabinets, likely filled with the various tool used for repairing and maintaining the integrity of the Night Carriage. I felt that part of me that liked mechanics start to itch. I mean, who can blame me? I lived in a garage in Boston, where I worked on my own motorbike! Of course I'm going to want to look around!

However, there's someone that I need to speak to that's more important than looking around the garage.

Frigoris and Cognitum took off their reins when the carriage stopped, and the two of them immediately set off for their duties. I, however, went toward the Guardsponies' wing of Canterlot Castle, where I was hoping to find Captain Awesome.

Captain Awesome, however, had an office not too far from where the Night Carriage had been parked. And I spent a good twenty minutes on a wild goose chase, searching fruitlessly for him until a Unicorn Guard by the name of Rapid Fire told me where I could find him.

His office, given his title, was in a rather unbecoming part of the Castle. Why would he be in the Dormitory Wing?

Oh, right.

Prime position to guard both princesses as they sleep.

I knocked at his plain wooden door, which had a nice and shiny plaque that read, "Squall – Captain, Solar Guard" on it.

His voice sounded through it, saying, "Enter."

I pushed the door open slowly and obeyed.

His office was rather roomy. It, like most other rooms in this wing, was merely normal stone. However, most of these walls were obscured by large shelves, laden with books of all kinds. They were organized by subject on each shelf. One shelf was devoted to Equestrian history; another was dedicated two-fold, one half to several journals, the other half to books on warfare, including a copy of Celestia Tzu's _The Art of War _(named after Celestia? Or Celestia herself?); the last shelf was dedicated to a subject I had never considered: science. Chemistry, physics, biology, and anatomy. Well, in hindsight, since Pegasi can affect the world around them with energy, understanding scientific connections allows for a wider range of things to use to your advantage.

"Flare Dancer," said the older stallion, his voice betraying no emotion at all. It seems he may have been taking a leaf out of Frigoris' book, with the flat, almost apathetic look and tone of voice.

"Captain," I countered in the same voice.

"Please, take a seat," he said, gesturing to a cushion in front of his desk. I had expected a proper chair; parts of my mind still expect to see human provisions in a world of ponies. I shook my head slightly, still a little dizzy, and took my seat.

"So, how can I help you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I let out a long sigh.

"I came to apologize."

He gave a small nod, then looked down at his work, picked up a quill with his hoof and set to writing on a small sheet of paper that already had a lot of small writing on it.

I watched him with amazement. I have to use my mouth to write because I can't pick it up with my hooves. How the buck can he use his?

"Why?" he suddenly asked, not looking up from his writing.

"Why what?" I asked, confused.

"Why apologize?"

I furrowed my brow and gave a little blink. Did he even remember last night?

"Because of what I did last night," I said slowly.

"No. I know what you apologize for. Tell me why you would apologize to me. If you were to apologize to anypony, it would be Princess Luna. You gave her quite a fright when you just took off. She may act like she's got it all nice and together, but I can tell. She gets erratic when she's afraid."

He paused.

"You know what? On second thought, don't even tell me why you would apologize to me. I don't need to know. And besides," he reached over and tapped a small sheet of paper nailed to his wall, "it's one of my rules. 'Never apologize – It's a sign of weakness.'"

"Not even to the Princesses?"

"Princess Celestia expects it of me. She knows that if I do something, I do it because I wholeheartedly believe it's the best course of action. And if I make a mistake, I stand by my decision. My Master taught me that when I studied under him. Take responsibility for your mistakes, but never apologize for them."

A small picture caught my eye on the wall, between Science Shelf and History Shelf. It depicted a young, grey-coated pony with armor I recognized as belonging to an old unit called the Chargers of Helios. It was less streamlined than the current armor, with more flanges and spines. As for the Chargers of Helios, during one of my visits to the library, I had stumbled across the term when reading up on Nightmare Moon, the better to get an idea on Luna's history before she went evil.

The Chargers of Helios were an old guard unit that had one purpose: to protect and serve Princess Celestia. After all, with a reference to the Greek God of the Sun in their name, who else could they be the servants of? However, when Nightmare Moon created the first Nightmares, then called the Shadows, and started her conquest of Equestria, the Chargers of Helios prevented her from advancing farther than the edge of Everfree Province. And from what I read, in on climactic battle, all save for one were killed, sacrificing their lives to destroy the Shadows. It was then that Tia did her magic with the Elements of Harmony, and banished her sister to the moon.

However, it was not the young version of Captain Squall that had my attention. The older, more serious stallion next to him had my eyes. He had a pure white coat, and his eyes were a very bright shade of red. His jaw was very sharp, and he looked very intimidating with his armor on. However, that did not stop him from smiling with Squall in that picture.

"You look upon General Hurricane Fury, the first Charger of Helios, the most decorated General of the Equestrian Army, and my former Master. He taught me everything I know about my duties. It was he who taught me that method I used on you to bring out your ability to use lightning punches."

I made a small grunt to acknowledge him.

"You yelled at me last night for not teaching you so-called advanced Pegasi combat techniques. Well, I do admit, I lied to you about it-"

I snorted a little. So Tenebrae had been right.

"-but before you jump to a conclusion, allow me to explain. There is, in fact, only one really advanced technique. Everything else is simply manipulating the environment using your basic techniques, as I'm sure your encounter can testify to. However, this technique involves creating lightning, and instead of discharging it in the form of a punch, or a stream, you keep it inside you, and let it give you energy. Now, the reason I did not tell you this is because you just love to jump way ahead without thinking, and if used improperly, and many times when used properly, it can kill you an everyone around you."

My interest is now perked.

"How do you know it can kill you?" I asked curiously.

Squall hesitated before answering. I saw his normally-sharp eyes soften considerably, and was it just me, or did they seem to be getting a little bit… watery?

"I've witnessed it. The Battle of Everfree was the most horrific battle of the Pre-Classical Era. We never had to outright battle the Insurrection, the Changelings were nothing more than a force to channel between mountains, and Discord doesn't much like outright killing. However, rather than fight a different species, Nightmare Moon corrupted many of Luna's personal guard and turned them upon us. She augmented those ranks with strange creatures of her own invention, and in a moment of total unpreparedness, she attacked us directly in Everfree. We were caught with our backs turned, and we of the Chargers of Helios were suddenly caught up in a battle to stop the Shadows from reaching Everfree City.

"Never before had there been such carnage, and never since has there been anywhere close. It became clear after several hours of intense battle that we were losing. Hurricane Fury sent me to ferry the last of the citizens out of Everfree, and I got the job done immediately. It took a long time to return, but when I did, I found that all… all of my brothers in arms… were dead."

He took a deep breath, steadying himself.

"Hurricane Fury was being overwhelmed. He turned to Princess Celestia, who had entered the fray, and he asked, 'Princess, permission to abdicate my post?' The Princess nodded gravely, and she grabbed me with magic, because I was starting to fight to get back to him, and she took me with her, away to safety. Hurricane Fury started to glow with energy, and in an absolute flash, he had destroyed every Shadow and had reduced Nightmare Moon's army to nil. However, all that energy has to be discharged somehow, so he flew into the night sky as high as he could. In a flash of light brighter than anything Princess Celestia could ever create, the lightning energy disintegrated him and exploded outward."

He stopped for a long time. Not too long as to say "conversation over," but he seemed to be steadying himself, witnessing the memory in his head.

"The risk you take with this technique is that you're gambling on having a way to discharge that energy immediately after finishing. Shooting off a beam of lightning won't do it, and neither will a punch, because the energy is augmented by your own stores. You have to have some way to release the massive amount of energy, and the results are usually quite… explosive. Even the most elite Chargers of Helios wouldn't have considered using the technique, unless the need was most dire."

I felt a little lightheaded, and I noticed I had been holding my breath when listening to his little story. I knew the outcome, but it was still rather sad and suspenseful. I let it out slowly, feeling slightly dizzy.

"So you understand why I didn't even mention this technique to you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded. I was still not happy that he hadn't told me this, but well, I think I can go without learning this technique.

"Was that the only reason for your visit?" he asked, looking back down at his work.

"Well, yeah. But now that I've seen your rule sheet, my curiosity is perked."

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait. I have paperwork to file. I'm working on getting approval for an entire legion's worth of guards at the Grand Galloping Gala, and I do not exaggerate when I say I will not rest until I am satisfied with the quality and amount of security at this event."

"Aww, not even one?" I asked in a pouty voice.

He groaned.

"Which one?" he asked in a resigned voice.

"Which one do you consider the most important?" I asked, giving a very broad grin.

Squall smirked.

"Rule Number 23: Never mess with my coffee if you want to live."

Seriously? He thinks THAT is his most important?

Wait, there's no way! He HAS to be joking!

"You're joking."

Squall made a "tsk" noise and motioned for me to leave.

"You only asked for one, and I gave you one. You also made the mistake of saying most important without asking in which category was the rule most important. Now begone; I have important work to do."

And in my most irritated mood possible, I got up and left.

-X-

A week passed with no major events having taken place. Tenebrae made no appearances, Flare Dancer progressed rather slowly with his Winter Weather magic, Captain Squall received approval for his legion's worth of guards being present at the Gala, Spike flirted with Rarity, Princess Celestia had to deal with the multitude of nobles calling for the barring of commoners from attending the Gala, Princess Luna and the Nightmares had announced their attendance of the Gala, and best of all, Applebloom got her cutie mark!

Unfortunately, Body Art had to keep his cabinet full of temporary tattoos under lock and key after the encounter with Applejack and Big Macintosh that afternoon, claiming that even a temporary tattoo parlor was no place for a young filly.

Under normal circumstances, Flare would be entirely eager to continue his lessons with Luna, but with all the events that had transpired over the week, he was quite tired. He had finally learned how to make it snow, and he was now trying to control it much the same way as he had attempted to learn how to control the force of rain some months earlier.

That said, Flare planned on playing hooky one fine Tuesday. But it's no fun playing hooky all by your lonesome self, so he conspired to get his marefriend to join him.

So Saturday morning found him flying over to Luna's balcony, their regular meeting spot. Luna was already out on the balcony, waiting for him. He landed with the grace that one would expect from a regularly-practiced move, straightened up, shook his head, causing his mane to fly around, and gave her a warm smile.

"Good morning, Luna! How was your evening?" he asked, to which she herself gave a small smile.

"Eventful. I mapped out some star charts. I'm planning on moving a few stars around. Might make a few new constellations in my spare time. So, ready for more snow practice today?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Mmm… nah," he casually responded.

Luna gave several blinks in rapid succession, clearly not expecting such a response.

"Umm… what?"

"I've decided I want to take a day off," Flare Dancer, his grin going from warm to positively sly. "I mean, I haven't had a legitimate day off in months. Not since the Harvest Festival."

"Flare, you get every Saturday off! What are you-"

"Bye Luna," Flare said as he took off with a rush of air.

[A]

"Flare get back here right this- _**LUX DAMN IT FLARE! GET BACK HERE!**_" Luna shouted as she took off in pursuit of him.

She caught up with him about a hundred feet away from where they had taken off. He looked utterly at ease in the air, and she saw a glimpse of satisfaction in his face as he looked back at her.

"Nice of you to join me," Flare said with a wink in her direction. "See, isn't this nice, just taking a nice, relaxing flight for a day?"

She gave a small giggle in spite of herself. He could certainly be somewhat charming even if he was deliberately shirking his daily duties, if one could call them that.

"I'll admit, I could use time off, but really, Flare. You're so close to being able to control snowfall; why not just come back and practice? You've almost got it!"

Flare turned over so that he was flying on his back, similar to the way Rainbow Dash would do. He looked utterly at ease in the sky. To him, it was his escape; the ability to fly anywhere he felt like flying made him feel completely free.

Speaking of flying anywhere he felt like, today, he felt like paying Ponyville a visit with Luna. Despite the sheer size of the Canerlot library, they didn't have a single copy of any books from the _Harry Trotter _series. And that's terrible.

"Where are we flying anyway?" asked Luna as they flew past a rather strange cloud formation that the Weather Pegasi of the Canterlot area had been hard at work on yesterday.

"Ponyville. I need to pay Twilight Sparkle a visit. She has a book series for me." Flare suddenly furrowed his brow as he said that. "Which reminds me. Race you to Ponyville!" he shouted.

He suddenly shot off, flying up into the partly-cloudy sky. Then he flew back down, gulping down a little mouthful of water he had collected.

While Luna normally tolerated him doing stuff like this, if he wanted to take a day off, he was going to pay for it.

Calling upon a thousand years of flying training, she gave a slight yawn before the only thing left in the place she had been hovering at was a notable absence of mass that had been there not a second before.

Luna flew right past Flare so fast, Flare had a spin out just from the sheer force of the wind coming off of her as she zipped past.

"Hey!" he shouted before flying after her.

She was laughing as she flew just out of his reach while he was busting it to keep up with her. At the pace they were flying, Ponyville was in sight within moments, and the two of them were booking it to the library (pun totally intended).

All of a sudden, a bolt of lightning shot out of one of the clouds above, striking right by Luna, who flinched with a very loud "Eep!" and ended up flailing her way to the ground, her wings suddenly stiffening and clamping back down on her sides.

Suddenly, Flare vanished, and a different Flare flew out of the cloud that had just sparked the bolt, and he landed right in front of the library gracefully, while Luna… not so much.

Now it was Flare's turn to laugh.

"Squall taught me to shoot lightning from my hooves. Apparently, it's easier to channel lightning that's already in clouds than to make your own, so I felt I'd go ahead and fly through big clouds, collecting it. And since my energy was concealed within another mass of energy, you couldn't sense me."

She started to object, but she stopped. That actually was _brilliant! _Not everypony could fool an alicorn, and she had sincerely thought the Flare who had chased her had been the real one.

"Oh, you. What did I tell you about making a show of military techniques?" she asked, failing to keep a straight face.

/[A]\

Neither of them noticed the door to the library open, revealing Celestia's Faithful Student, but she promptly made her presence known.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, hello Twi," Flare said, giving a grin. "Not interrupting much. Just me gloating about having beaten my marefriend in a race here."

Her one raised eyebrow became two.

"Oh yeah, I forgot. We never told you. Yeah, Luna and I, well…" he trailed off at the smile playing across Twi's face.

"Well, it's about time, but I gotta say, Rainbow Dash will be a little disappointed."

Flare suddenly looked confused, while Luna suddenly got more than a little agitated.

"Huh? What's she got to do with anything?" he asked, to which Luna clopped him to the back of the head.

"You're so dense, you know that?" Luna said as she cantered on in to the library. Flare followed suit, and immediately started looking for the fiction section. However, he let out a frustrated groan in seconds.

"Quit reshelving between every time I come by for a visit! Where's the fiction section this time?" he asked, irritated at the prospect of having to find it again.

"How about you find it yourself? It would entertain us to watch you," said Luna.

"'Us?' You slipping back into the Royal We agai-" he noticed Twi, "-duh."

With that, he started working his way through the room, searching for the elusive Fiction section.

"So, how has Canterlot been?" Twilight asked. "I heard you and your sister had a big fight a while back. Something having to do with him," she gestured at Flare, "if I remember correctly."

"Oh. It's water under the bridge now. Tenebrae seems intent on turning us against each other now. He got Flare when he convinced Flare that Tia's been keeping him a prisoner in Canterlot instead of giving him the freedom he had been promised. It had been a lie, of course, but Flare didn't know that at the time. It's a complex bit of magic, putting a spell on somepony so you can monitor them. I'm sure you can testify," Luna added, to which Twilight Sparkle nodded.

"Ponyville General asked me to put that spell on their urgent care patients a month ago, and I still have to come in to use it every so often. At least they pay me quite handsomely for my effort," she remarked.

"Yes, well, you know how the receiver usually has to be asleep, yes?" Twi nodded, "Well, Flare remained unaware that it was being placed on him, so he couldn't refute the claim."

There came a loud crash from upstairs, a very loud hoot soon followed, and Twi remarked, "Sounds like he woke Owlysius. Oh dear, he won't be happy tonight."

Luna allowed herself a little smile before continuing.

"Well, Flare flew off in anger when he confronted Tia about it, and I spent the night looking for him. Well, I found Flare in Los Pegasus-"

"No way!"

Luna laughed.

"You remind me so much of Tia. She had a similar reaction when she found out. Yes, he was in Los Pegasus, drinking himself silly on _Buck Daniels_. A pony by the name of Twilight Sky was kind enough to help me wake him up."

"Twilight Sky? My cousin?" she asked.

"Yes, him. I asked him about that, believe it or not. He didn't know you had moved to Ponyville, but anyway, I had to get him out of his stupor, so I…" she trailed off, suddenly looking devious.

"Uhh, Princess?" asked Twilight Sparkle, waving a hoof in her face.

"Flare, I have something I need to tell you," she called loudly. There was another crash, followed by a triumphant "A-ha! Got ya!" before Flare came back downstairs, holding a copy of _Harry Trotter and the Philosopony's Stone _in his mouth.

"Eah?" he asked through the book, his speech somewhat muffled.

Before Luna could start, Twilight Sparkle used magic to pull the book from his mouth, looking irritated.

"That book cost me 12 bits. And you sticking it in your mouth will only make the value go down. Please bring a saddlebag next time to carry it in, next time. I suppose I'll have to provide you with one that you can borrow until you have to return the book."

She suddenly smirked. Flare did not like where this was going.

"And I happen to only have one available right now. Spike!?" Twilight called suddenly, which was met with a frustrated growl.

"Can't a dragon get any sleep around here? I'm still growing!" came Spike's agitated groan as he noisily got out of his bed.

"Spike, can you bring my other saddlebag down here?"

The noise stopped.

"You mean THAT saddlebag?" Spike asked, sounding very much embarrassed. Luna liked where this was going. Flare didn't.

"Yes, Spike. I mean THAT saddlebag."

There came the sound of a drawer opening, something being pulled out of it, the drawer closing, and footsteps coming down the stairs. Spike emerged carrying a very frilly pink saddle-bag with hearts emblazoned all over it.

Luna couldn't help it. She literally fell to the floor, laughing as hard as possible. Flare had blanched completely at the sight of it, and he looked positively mortified.

"I am NOT wearing that in public!"

He suddenly was enveloped in fire as he transformed into a human, the form which the saddlebag would not fit on.

"You are NOT putting that on me, no matter what you threaten me with!"

Luna was still laughing, Spike had set the saddlebag down, and had gone back up in an attempt to get some more sleep. Twilight, on the other hoof, was carefully packing all seven _Harry Trotter _books inside the various pockets of the saddlebag, complete with the library due date reminder.

"The books are due back in a month, and you had better take care of them. That means don't put them in your mouth!"

The door opened suddenly to reveal Pinkie Pie, carrying a plate of cyan-colored cupcakes with rainbow-colored icing. And several people on the other side of the fourth wall have just closed their tabs or browsers, sickened at the thought of a "Cupcakes" reference.

"Did somepony mention putting things in their mouth? I love doing that!"

She cheerfully popped one of the cupcakes in her mouth.

"Oh, hi Princess Luna! Good morning Twilight! And hello to you too, Flare!"

Luna was recovering slowly, still having little fits of giggles, but she waved a hoof in greeting. Flare on the other hand, while still staying as far away as possible from the frilly monstrosity.

"I'm not even going to ask how she knows that I'm Flare," the eponymous character wondered aloud.

"Oh, it's easy. You have red hair and you're wearing black clothes! Just like your pony self!"

Flare blinked in a way that would make Luna proud.

"Well, okay then," he said, completely filing the ability to comprehend that logic into his "Do Not Touch" portion of his brain. Even with those similarities, how could she tell?

Flare pulled out his iPod for the purposes of playing a good ol' game of Solitaire while Luna and Twilight Sparkle were discussing the outcome of the argument they'd had when Luna brought Flare back ("You should have been there. She knew she was in the wrong, and she had to make sure we were back to normal. 'So, are we reconciled?' she had asked, to which I replied, 'Yes sister, we are'"). However, Pinkie Pie had other plans.

Setting the tray of cupcakes on the ground, she leapt forward, grabbed the iPod from Flare, and followed the on-screen instruction to unlock the iPod.

"Wha- Pinkie!"

"Just looking!" she sang, and with four quick taps later, she had gotten into Flare's iPod, despite the 1 in 10,000 chance of getting the PIN right on the first try. Which she did. But screw logic, she's Pinkie Pie. She does what she wants.

"What are you- HOW DID YOU EVEN GET IN!?"Flare sputtered, half-exasperated, half-incredulous.

Pinkie just smiled as she booted up Angry Birds, and with the skill of a master, set to hitting the pigs with perfect accuracy. After a while of sitting still letting his mouth hang open, Flare just shut it and set to watching Pinkie with amazement. That pony is something, after all.

He became aware of Luna cantering along beside me.

"While we're here, why not get our outfits for the Gala?" she asked. "Tia tells me Rarity is quite the dressmaker, and I'm sure she does well enough with suits as well."

Flare gagged. He hated wearing suits. On Earth, they restricted movement, and he _hates _restriction! To explain how he knew that, there were a good few black tie events that he and Rory had attended because Rory had done some kindness to a wealthy man, who had invited them along for some event. Still, he had to go to this stupid Gala, so he might as well look his best.

"Ok, fine, whatever. Let's try not to make it too expensive now, shall we?"

Flare retrieved his iPod from Pinkie Pie, much to her displeasure, put it back in his pocket, transformed back into pony form, and set out from the store when Luna called after him.

"Flare wait! You left your new saddlebag!"

-X-

"This is NOT funny," Flare growled as the pair of them made their way to Carousel Boutique, Flare's new feminine saddlebag strapped tightly on, underneath his wings. He was receiving funny looks from just about every pony they passed on the way. Rainbow Dash had been the most egregious example, bursting out in laughter and promptly falling out of the sky into the Everfree River, leaving the thunderhead she had been responsible for moving away from over Town Hall sitting over the river itself.

Cue lightning strike, which caused Rainbow Dash's mane to poof out into a very large afro. And several people on the other side of the fourth wall have just closed their tabs or browsers, sickened at the thought of a more-obscure " " reference.

In short order, they arrived at Carousel Boutique, where Flare knocked at the door. There was a bit of a sigh.

"Sweetie Belle, could you and your friends go and answer the door for me?"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER DOOR ANSWERERS! YAY!" came a unified yell from behind the door, followed by the clatter of hooves and the door swinging open to reveal Applebloom, a young unicorn with a white coat and a pink and purple mane who could only be Rarity's little sister, and a Pegasus filly Flare didn't recognize, who had a magenta mane and an orange coat. The three of them were wearing red capes with gold lining, and a blue patch on each flank with a golden prancing pony.

"Uh, howdy Princess!" Applebloom cheerfully piqued. "An' howdy other pony! Nice saddlebag."

Flare groaned as the trio of fillies started trying to push the two of them inside.

Rarity started to come down the stairs at the end of the room, preoccupied with rerolling fabric, which had evidently been undone, likely by the three energetic fillies currently pushing them inside.

"Sweetie Belle, who was at the doOOOR!?" she suddenly let out a scream of panic at the sight of them. "P-p-Princess Luna!? In MY boutique!? Oh this is not good! The place isn't even CLEAN!"

She then frantically started to use magic to start cleaning everything in sight (including the positively sparkling china set, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders), absolutely oblivious to both Flare and Luna attempting to calm her down. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, on the other hoof, had plopped down with a bucket of popcorn that Sweetie Belle had gotten from the kitchen, and were watching the entertainment unfold.

Luna looked at Flare with a raised eyebrow, but not out of confusion. More like, "Please can I use the Royal Canterlot Voice?" to which Flare gave a nod while plugging his ears.

"_**BE STILL!"**_ the loud shout echoed through the building, to which Rarity froze.

"Y-y-yes, Princess?" she asked, and Flare thought he could literally see her life flashing before her eyes, based on her look of fear.

"Rarity, please. It is no trouble. Flare and I just stopped by wanting you to make us something to wear for the Grand Galloping Gala and-"

"Making a dress for the Princess!?" Rarity squeaked in incredulity. The next thing they both knew, Rarity had fainted, and was lying on the ground in front of them.

"Well, that was fun. Let's go hang out at Fluttershy's!" Applebloom suggested. "Maybe we can get our cutie marks by babysitting Angel!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER BUNNYSITTERS! YAY!" they called, and they were off, a dust trail marking the path they had just sped off on.

Flare looked after them, a mixture of wonder and amusement on his face, but Luna brought him back to the present situation.

"Should we wake her up?" she asked, struggling not to laugh.

"Yeah, probably best to."

Flare went into the kitchen, got some cold water from the sink in a bucket, and splashed it onto Rarity's face. She started, and promptly sputtered her way back into consciousness.

"Wha- where am I?" she groggily asked, looking around.

She saw Luna.

"Oh my gosh! Princess Luna is in my boutique! Must clean! Must clean!"

Luna rolled her eyes. Her horn shimmered and a couple of important things were accomplished at the same time. First, Flare's mouth was clamped shut, much to his displeasure, as he had started to laugh. Having not entirely healed from the broken snout (but 90% of the way there), he winced and glared at Luna. Second, Rarity was contained in an aura of magic, which raised her into the air where she flailed helplessly.

"Rarity, please. We need your expert tailoring abilities." Luna said, causing Rarity to stop flailing.

"You need my abilities? B-but you have access to the best tailors in all of Equestria! Why would you choose a humble Ponyville unicorn like me?" she asked.

"Tia tells me you're good with making dresses. That I have no doubt in, but do you also make suits?" she asked, gesturing at Flare, who rolled his eyes.

"Why, yes! I do. They're generally easier than dresses, because I don't have to add all the frills and the like, but yes, I can do a suit. Could you please step upstairs with me, you two?" she asked, starting to canter toward the second floor.

They followed her into her designing room, and she set about measuring them from hoof to shoulder, around the thickest parts of their hooves, around the chest, and all over, all the while recording the data on a small notepad.

"Tell me, when is the Gala? I heard it was postponed from tonight to sometime in the next few weeks," Rarity commented as she worked.

"We decided upon next week. Is that plenty of time for two sets of attire?" Luna asked.

"Oh, certainly. Now, if I were working on all five of my friends' dresses as well, like I did two years ago, however, I probably wouldn't have been able to do it. Luckily, though, none of us are attending this year. It certainly didn't live up to expectation the year we all went."

She paused.

"That reminds me. Tell Prince Blueblood from me that he's an arrogant little swine," she said, sudden venom filling her voice.

Flare looked at Luna, who gave him another "Later" look.

Rarity was still measuring, but Flare, as usual, didn't want to sit still. Finally, Rarity had to comment on it.

"Flare Dancer, really darling! Sit still! I can't take measurements with you constantly moving around!"

Finally, Luna had to hold him down with magic, which did not help Flare's mood, considering the saddlebag and the mouth-clamping.

When Rarity was finished measuring, she started asking about preference to the color of the outfit, and the general appearance of it, which took considerably shorter than the measuring. When they were finished with that, they could go, and Rarity promised the dress and suit would be ready in about five days.

With that, they thanked her and began to walk around the town, enjoying their time off. They decided upon a walk around the town, just to kill some more time, but before they went very far, Luna stopped suddenly and looked back at her tail.

Flare stopped and looked back as well to see a small Earth Pony colt with a white coat and a brown mane tug on Luna's tail.

"Hello Princess Luna!" he said quite happily, in an accent Flare could only place at Trottingham. This must have been the colt, named Pipsqueak if he remembered correctly, that she claimed had been so adorable on Nightmare Night.

"Ah, Pipsqueak! I was wondering when I would run into you around here." Luna said with a smile.

"Are you coming down for Nightmare Night again this year? Wait till you see my costume!"

"Well, at this point in time, I don't know. Things have been going on up in Canterlot that might not let me go," Luna said with a sad smile. "But if I can, I'll come down! I enjoyed it immensely last year."

"Thank-you Princess Luna! By the way, who's this?" he asked, gesturing at Flare. "And why is he wearing a filly's saddlebag?"

Flare facehoofed. Again with the saddlebag?

"This is Flare Dancer. He's one of my closest friends," she explained.

"Is he your coltfriend?" Pipsqueak asked, causing Flare's eyebrows to fly up near his mane.

"Well, honest answer, yes. I am her coltfriend," Flare said, doing his absolute best to sound as apologetic as possible. Even so, this caused Pipsqueak to look sad. Almost like the death of a pet.

"Aww, I wanted to be Princess Luna's coltfriend when grew up."

Flare had to stuff his hoof in his mouth to prevent himself from smiling too broadly. Luna, however, had a gentle smile on her face.

"I'm touched, Pip. But trust me, you're a little too young for me," she said in a soft voice to him.

"Aren't I too?" Flare asked.

"Not helping things, Flare!"

"Oh, that's okay! You're still my favorite princess ever!"

A mare's voice with the same accent sounded through the town, calling for Pip.

"Oh, got to go. Mum's making daisy pie for dinner tonight! Bye Princess Luna! Bye Luna's friend!" he said, taking off back up the street he had come from.

Flare stared after him.

"He wanted to be your coltfriend when he grew up," he said in a little bit of a teasing voice. "Does this mean I can call you Pedo-mare?"

And several people on the other side of the fourth wall have just closed their tabs or browsers, sickened at the thought of a 4Chan reference.

Luna blinked her usual blink, but rather than say nothing, she got in on the action.

"At least I'm not wearing a pink frilly saddlebag."

Flare stopped smiling.

"Low blow, Luna. Low blow."

Luna stuck out her tongue at him, grinning very broadly now.

"Well, anytime you really get on my nerves, all I have to do is reference the fact that you had a nice, frilly, pink saddlebag on and it'll shut you up and get you off my back. Looks like I have the ultimate counter-troll memory now!"

Flare opened his mouth, but thought better of it. He slumped his head and resigned himself to a long and miserable existence of Luna constantly talking about the time he had to wear a feminine carrying case.

"Well, I must admit, this day has been quite relaxing. I think we both needed today," she said after some time walking around Ponyville. She wasn't lying. She felt great, and dare she say it, she had fun. But she wasn't going to give Flare too much satisfaction.

Flare just smiled at her.

"I'm glad you enjoyed today," he said, giving her a warm smile.

There was still plenty of time left in the day to have a little bit more fun, as it was just past high noon. Luna, however, had business to attend to in Canterlot, and thus she needed to return soon. As fun as it might be to skip the monthly meeting with the nobles, they did need to explain why the Grand Galloping Gala was being postponed to those who were doing a most excellent job of making sure the general public isn't aware of Tenebrae.

For example, Ponyville. Earlier, when Tenebrae wrecked the town, none of the general populace knew who was behind it, and those who did were told to keep quiet if they could, which they were doing. They were told it was an Ursa Major that the guards and the Princesses had to deal with. No one was any the wiser.

Flare, however, wanted to run an errand on the way back. They stopped by Sugarcube Corner, where Flare borrowed a jalapeno from Pinkie Pie. They promptly flew up to Rainbow Dash's house, where Flare began to look for a mailbox.

"Flare, what are you doing?" Luna asked.

Flare found the mailbox and put the jalapeno inside it.

"Flare, why are you putting a jalapeno in Rainbow Dash's mailbox?"

Flare smirked.

"Dashies love pepper. they hate cinnamon. Well, now that my little waste of time is complete, how about we get back to Canterlot?"

Luna rolled her eyes.

"As you wish."

[B]

They began to fly back to Canterlot, doing nothing more than enjoying each other's company. They chatted some more, but overall, they were silent more than they spoke. Rather than race, like they had, they sort of flew around each other, slowly working their way back to the castle.

Canterlot City came within sight shortly after leaving, and they flew from it to Canterlot Castle, back toward Luna's balcony. Nightmare Cognitum and Nightmare Fecunditatis stared up at us from just outside Luna's balcony doors, then promptly marched on inside.

The two of them landed gracefully, and Luna started to head on inside. Before she reached the door, she stopped and turned to Flare.

"Thank you for the day. I had a wonderful time."

She paused for a moment, then promptly leaned forward and kissed Flare on the cheek, causing slight color to rise in both their cheeks.

"Enjoy the rest of your day," she said shyly, kicking at her hooves a little, before turning and heading on inside.

Flare stared after her, feeling the place where she had kissed him with one of his hooves, somewhat unable to comprehend the fact. Then, without warning, he leapt backwards, turning loops, and laughing in giddiness.

While Flare Dancer is usually very goofy, even by standards set by Pinkie Pie, he was acting stranger than usual, but he didn't care. He was on top of the world.

He flew over to the Landing, positively galloped inside, and started to sort of dance his way to his room. Servants, guards, and nobles all stared after him with rather strange looks on their faces, but again, he couldn't have cared less, even if he wanted to.

He passed by Cordon Bleu, who called after him, "I take eet you are having an excellent day, Flare Dahncer?"

Flare gave him a very wide grin and spun around in an energetic twirl.

"I am having an excellent day, Cordon Bleu. And trust me, nothing is going to ruin it."

But when Flare opened the door to his bedroom, he found something that, while unlikely to ruin the day, would certainly spoil the mood. And the thing in question was standing right in front of him, looking him straight in the eyes, a slight frown gracing her face.

Lux immediately held up a hand, stopping him from saying anything.

"We need to talk, Flare Dancer."

* * *

_And we end the scene there. My oh my this was a fun chapter to write for me._

Hey author!

_Yes Flare?_

How come you left out two of the preview statements?

_Well, you see, I-_

No excuses! That's a poor author technique! Why would you get the readers' hopes up on some things and not deliver? You're worse than the Boston Red Sox! Oh yeah, I just went there!

_Hey! I take offense to that! I'm a Red Sox fan! And while we're on that topic, how can you even write in the authors' notes?_

**Hi readers! Pinkie Pie here! I figured since the Rytex was writing in italics, and Flare was writing in underlines, I thought I'd do bold! Isn't bold awesome!? My letters are huge and black! I wish they could be pink, because, you know, pink is my favorite color, I mean, hello? PINKie Pie? And I'm pink and all? But sadly, fanfiction dot net doesn't let you do colored fonts. What gives guys? Can't you tell Rytex wants to make my text pink when I'm talking? But I was at this party once, and Gummy fell into the cake, and the cake had pink icing. So when Gummy came out of the cake, he was pink just like me! You know, speaking of pets, it's nice that Rainbow Dash has a pet like we do. Now all our pets can play together on our pet days, and I can throw parties for the anniversaries of Rainbow Dash adopting Tank! Isn't that awesome!? You know, I'd like to throw a party for all of you readers. Who wants a party? Raise your hands! I see one, two, three, Lyra put your foam finger down, four, hey! Some of you aren't raising your hands! Raise them where I can see them! Now we could have the party over at Sugarcube corner! Why wouldn't it be at Sugarcube Corner? I mean, it's only the best place to have a party in all of Equestria! So anyway-**

_How'd she get in here?_

It's Pinkie Pie. She does what she wants. She brought me along for the ride.

**-and I was thinking, maybe we could have green cupcakes with extra, extra , EXTRA sprinkles, and maybe some white icing, and maybe those sprinkles that are like small sugary squares that people put on cookies all the time, and they have lots of different colors, but no pink ones! What's with that? But I'm also thinking we could get Vinyl Scratch and Neon Lights to show up with the music for the party, and maybe even-**

_Sorry, gonna have to cut you off there, Pinkie. I have some important stuff to get to in this Author's Note. Nice to have you two show up and completely ruin the point of a cliffhanger._

_Anyway, here's the preview for next chapter._

You'd better use them all, next time!

_Will do._

_Preview for Chapter 9: An Uninvited Guest_

"_The time is coming, Flare Dancer, when you will have to make a choice. You may have to sacrifice your freedom for your happiness."_

"_Sorry I'm late to the Gala. I trust I won't spoil this evening's activities."  
"Tenebrae!"_

"_Golbez Clad in Dark? Really, Tenebrae?"  
"Yes, Flare Dancer. I feel it suits me."_

"_So, you know that dance we never had at the Harvest Festival?"  
"Yeah."  
"How about we take it now?"_

"_What is that music?"  
"I do believe it is a musical number. What with all the ponies excited to be coming to the Gala, some of them burst into song."_

"_Catch me if you can, Flare Dancer."_

"_Aequivalere!"_

_Read and review, readers. Have a nice day/night/day tomorrow.  
_

_And one more thing. **SEASON 3 ANNOUNCED FOR NOVEMBER!**  
_

_Rytex signing off!_


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